Isles named nation’s worst business state

Hawaii’s last-place ranking in CNBC’s 2013 business climate study included a silver lining of sorts: The state also garnered the report’s top spot for quality of life.

The CNBC report placed the Aloha State near the bottom in most of the 10 categories it used to come up with the 50th-place ranking. Hawaii slipped one notch from its 49th-place finish in 2012.

The results of the study were presented in a story written by CNBC Senior Correspondent Scott Cohn.

"To be fair, Hawaii faces some issues beyond its control," Cohn wrote. "Sitting in the middle of the Pacific, Hawaii will never truly be able to compete with its mainland rivals on cost — not when half a gallon of organic whole milk was recently advertised at a supermarket in Maui for $5.99 … on sale! On the same day, it was going for $3.99 in suburban New York."

The report dinged Hawaii, among things, for its high tax rates, cost of doing business and cost of living. It criticized the quality of the state’s workforce, infrastructure and transportation, economy, education, technology and innovation, business friendlinesss and access to capital.

Cohn did, however, find a few positive things to say about Hawaii, citing its proximity to business opportunities in Asia and efforts to diversify its economy with initiatives such as the state’s Enterprise Zone program that offers tax relief for a variety of businesses.

"And of course, there is that legendary quality of life. It is not just beaches. We found Hawaii’s air and water are clean, the crime rate is low, and Hawaiians are among the healthiest Americans," Cohn wrote.

The story did not include any information on the methodology used by CNBC to determine the scores in each of the 10 categories. The story also relied on comments made by state officials and economists in response to the network’s 2012 report.

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On the Net:

www.cnbc.com/id/100822261