Nevada No. 2 in ranking

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Thursday, Sept. 25, 2003 | 11:21 a.m.

Nevada continues to rank No. 2 for its overall small business climate, a national think tank says.

The Small Business Survival Committee, described as a free-market, nonprofit, nonpartisan group based in Washington D.C., released its eighth annual Small Business Survival Index, which ranked South Dakota No. 1.

The index analyzes 21 factors affecting small businesses such as crime rates, taxes and costs for health care and utilities.

South Dakota and Nevada were close in their attractiveness for small businesses, but the Silver State has slightly higher taxes and utility costs and a higher crime rate.

The index noted the tax increases the Nevada Legislature passed this year, but it's uncertain when or if those taxes will affect Nevada's ranking. That's contingent on when analysts start tracking the data, said Raymond Keating, SBSC chief economist. Other states imposed tax increases this year, but none of the other top five ranked states had large increases like Nevada did, he said.