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STATE RANKINGS REVEAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP POLICIES

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Small Business Survival Committee (SBSC) released its sixth annual rankings of states according to their respective policy climates for small business and entrepreneurship in the "Small Business Survival Index 2001." Nevada came out on top.

The index ties together 17 major government-imposed or -related costs impacting small businesses across a broad spectrum of industries and types of businesses, including personal income taxes, capital gains taxes and corporate income taxes. These measures are combined into one index number — the Small Business Survival Index.

"The Small Business Survival Index manages to capture much of the governmental burdens impacting critical economic decisions — particularly affecting investment and entrepreneurship," said economist Raymond Keating.

Following are the complete state rankings for the Small Business Survival
Index 2001:

Small Business Survival Index: State Rankings

Rank  State   SBSI Score
1  Nevada   27.060
2  South Dakota  28.250
3  Washington  32.010
4  Wyoming   32.150
5  Florida   33.180
6  Texas   34.250
7  New Hampshire  36.250
8  Alabama   36.830
9  Mississippi  38.160
10  Tennessee  39.540
11  Colorado  39.870
12  Michigan  40.205
13  Illinois  40.290
14  Alaska   40.880
15  Virginia  41.310
16  Indiana   41.820
17  Missouri  42.213
18  South Carolina  42.520
19  Louisiana  43.304
20  Arizona   44.178
21  Massachusetts  44.755
22  Pennsylvania  44.880
23  Georgia   45.350
24  North Dakota  45.379
25  Arkansas  45.420
26  Idaho   45.590
27  Maryland  46.310
28  Oklahoma  46.920
29  Delaware  46.950
30  Wisconsin  47.380
31  Nebraska  48.430
32  Kentucky  48.610
33  Connecticut  48.830
34  Utah   49.242
35  North Carolina  49.590
36  Oregon   50.010
37  New Jersey  50.360
38  Montana   50.979
39  Iowa   51.073
40  Ohio   52.870
41  West Virginia  53.120
42  Vermont   53.514
43  New York  54.005
44  California  54.860
45  New Mexico  55.410
46  Minnesota  55.890
47  Kansas   55.980
48  Maine   56.150
49  Hawaii   57.235
50  Rhode Island  59.011
51  Dist. Columbia  65.335

FEMALE COCKROACHES HEAR BIOLOGICAL CLOCK TOO

Just when you thought you’d heard it all, researchers are now saying that female cockroaches can hear their biological clock ticking away.

The study, which recently appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reports that reproductive aging caused by delayed mating resulted in reduced "choosiness" by female Nauphoeta cinerea, a cockroach that has reproductive cycles and produces live young, according to authors Patricia J. Moore and Allen J. Moore.

The study shows that female roaches beyond optimal mating age lower their standards, and females that were beyond the optimal mating age (six days post-adult molt) required considerably less courtship than their younger counterparts. Females who were older when they mated had fewer offspring per clutch and fewer clutches than females who mated young. Thus, reduced choosiness was correlated with a permanent reduction in fertility.

Tick, tock.

"SHUNDLER" WINS N.J. ROACH DERBY

LIVINGSTON, N.J. — A cockroach named "Shundler" was the winner of the 12th annual "New Jersey Cockroach Derby," held on Aug. 16 at the Cook College campus of Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J. The derby was sponsored by the New Jersey Pest Management Association (NJPMA). The two cockroaches were named after New Jersey gubernatorial candidates, Bret Shundler and Jim McGreevey.

"The ‘McGreevey’ roach was a slow starter and, after watching the crowd, he tried to make a last minute dash, but the ‘Shundler’ roach had too big of a lead by that time," said Leonard Douglen, executive director, NJPMA. NJPMA uses Madagascar "hissing" cockroaches for the race because of their size and ability to respond to stimuli.

The derby" was part of NJPMA’s Annual Clinic and Tradeshow, which offered a day of seminars on new and emerging trends in insect management.

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