Where Do You Launch a New Business? Nebraska!

I was pleasantly surprised to see Fortune Small Business magazine list Nebraska as the top state in the country to launch a new business in. The magazine listed Omaha as #4 and Lincoln (my town) as #10th best mid sized cities to launch a business in. From the article:

Got the recession woes? Consider moving to Nebraska, which MainStreet.com recently named the happiest state in the union because of its financial stability. In recent years, Lincoln has a resurgence of young business owners. Entrepreneurship is promoted locally by the flagship campus of the University of Nebraska, which fosters local technology businesses and recruits young talent to Lincoln. The city's small business owners form a tight-knit community that provides support for established and aspiring entrepreneurs.

You can read the full listing here. My wife and I originally chose Lincoln as our home for her job. Nebraska has a very low ceiling on malpractice lawsuits and insurance for her is a small fraction of what it is in most other states. For the most part I love running my company out of Lincoln. The local economy is pretty rock solid and the weather is decent about 9 months out of the year. Downsides are that its not very tech friendly, small airport (i always have layovers), and its hard ... very hard to find qualified talent. But for companies just starting out I do think its a great place to get going.