Business Climate

Mike over at <a href="http://thelastbestplace.blogspot.com/2007/03/home-again.html">The Last Best Place</a> has announced he is moving from Montana to elsewhere. His reason why he is leaving really caught my eye.<br />n<br />n<blockquote>To make a long story short I made the difficult decision to move the nuts and bolts of my operation to NoDak, where the business climate is generally more favorable for continued expansion. From taxes to the insurance rates I pay for my employees and myself, NoDak is hard to beat, especially compared with the outright hostility many in Montana hold for private enterprise, so for the first time in over a decade I'll be sending money to somewhere other than Helena.</blockquote><br />n<br />nThere are all kinds of people that will try to tell you how Montana is favorable to business. Very few if any of them that say this are business owners though. The number of people I see move across the border to another state because the business climate is better is unbelievable. Most of them still do business in Montana, they just find it cheaper to locate the business out of state and commute in to the state to do their business. Think about this, with energy prices the way they are, businesses find it cheaper to locate out of state and commute in. This is really a powerful statement about the business climate here in Montana no matter what people say about Montana being good to business or that business should do thier "fair share'". Talk is one thing but voting with your feet is a powerful statement that can't be ignored.<br />n<br />nI wish Mike all the best in his move and hope it works out for him, which I'm sure it will. I understand the business decision on why to move. I'm sure it was a tough decision to leave The Last Best Place, but circumstances has led him that way. I just wonder when the politicians in Helena will figure out how they discriminate against businesses when compared to other states and how they drive people out of the state with their policies. I keep hearing the politicians about how we need more of our kids to stay in the state but if we keep driving the producers of jobs, businesses, out of state, how are they supposed to stay here?<br />n<br />n<strong>Prophesy is a good line of business, but it is full of risks. Mark Twain</strong>