South Dakota: Businesses
Can Make Profit, Keep It

With no corporate income tax, personal income tax or property tax, South Dakota continues to roll out the welcome mat for new and expanding business. Also, the South Dakota legislature eliminated the inheritance tax during the 2000 session. According to business analysts the Rushmore State is the lowest cost state in nation to do business and is the No.1 best place to start a business.
        South Dakota has made a push for an educated work force. The state calls itself the most digital state for K-12 and higher education in the country. Gov. Bill Janklow is pressing for additional programs for high-tech training. The State Dept. of Labor is spending $1.3 million in grants to help school districts and technical institutes prepare and train students for high-tech jobs. The state grant will deliver the Cisco Academies Program, an intensive four-semester course to help students design, build and maintain computer networks.
        Even with minor lay-offs in the Sioux Falls area at Hutchinson Technology and Gateway Computers, the state continues to attract firms with some of the lowest costs in the nation for unemployment rates and worker's compensation expenses. Berquist, a Minnesota electronics manufacturer, an-nounced last December it would open a plant in Rapid City and add 100 employees within three years. Household Credit Services recently an-nounced an expansion into Sioux Falls. The company expects to add 400 workers by the end of the year.

TOP OF PAGE