The verdict is in for 2012!  Massachusetts, North Dakota, California, New York and Minnesota are this year’s top five states in that order for entrepreneurs who are looking to start and grow a business, according to this year’s U.S. State Entrepreneurship Index from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL)’s Bureau of Business Research and Department of Economics.

Based on combined data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the IRS Statistics of Income Bulletin, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Statistical Abstract, the Index tracks each state’s core trends, as well as its overall entrepreneurial environment, business-formation growth and technological innovation.  This year’s winners for overall improvement based on the criteria?  Utah, Ohio and Wisconsin.  At the bottom of the list?  Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina, Michigan and coming in last, Louisiana.

“To reach the top of the rankings, a state had to do very well in at least four of the five categories that made up the Index,” according to Eric Thompson, UNL associate economics professor and the Bureau’s director.  “This year, those states tend to be clustered in the Northeast and the upper Midwest.”  While acknowledging good things on the business front are happening nationwide, Thompson points up the fact that the bulk of 2012’s entrepreneurial activity “has a definite northern flavor.”

Prospective business opportunity and other small business or franchise owners who would like to know more about the state of entrepreneurship where they live and work are encouraged to click on UNL’s News Blog now!