Small Business News
September 2005 | Online Edition
Hawaii is the Most Expensive
Place to Run a Business
Hawaii, New York and Massachusetts are the most expensive states in the nation in which to do business, according to the 2005 Milken Institute Cost of Doing Business Index released last month-before the GET tax hike, but not published locally until after the vote.
Hawaii, which was also number one on last year's index, has business costs that are 43 percent higher than the national average.
Second-place New York's costs are 30 percent higher, and third-place Massachusetts has costs that are 25 percent greater than the U.S. overall. California is fourth, with costs more than 24 percent greater, and Connecticut is fifth, with costs greater than 22 percent.
The states with the lowest costs of doing business are South Dakota, 50th, with costs 28 percent below the national average, North Dakota, 49th (23 percent lower), Iowa, 48th (19 percent), Montana, 47th (19 percent) and Idaho, 46th (16 percent).
The Cost-of-Doing-Business Index, released annually by the Institute, indicates each state's comparative advantages or disadvantages in attracting and retaining businesses. Those states with a low cost of doing business have, on average, greater job growth than those with high costs.
The Index measures wage costs, taxes, electricity costs and real estate costs for industrial and office space. Each state is measured on the five individual categories, and those weighted scores are compiled to make the overall index. For more information, log on to http://www.milkenfoundation.org.
Don't Let Bad Things
Happen to Your Good Name
By Mark E. Recktenwald,
Director of State DCCA
Identity theft has been the number one consumer complaint for the last 5 years, and a recent increase of news reports show how fast the problem is growing in Hawaii and across the nation.
The Federal Trade Commission recently determined that between October 1998 and September 2003, more than 27 million Americans were victims of identity theft, resulting in billions of dollars of losses to consumers.
Since that time, millions more Americans have been at risk of becoming identity theft victims due to stolen confidential credit records or inadvertent disclosure or loss of such information by financial institutions and data processing companies.
According to the Federal Trade Commission's "Identity Theft Victim Complaint Data" for 2004, Hawaii's rate of credit card fraud, phone or utilities fraud, and bank fraud — as a percentage of all reported identity thefts — is higher than the national average. In addition, attempted identity theft in Hawaii outpaces the national average.
Two independent surveys found that as many as 7 million American consumers had new accounts fraudulently opened in their names in 2004. In addition to the untold cost and heartache caused to the victims, businesses have been burdened with costs of up to $119 billion related to such identity theft.
The Lingle-Aiona Administration introduced the "Identity Theft Protection Act of 2005" during this year's legislative session to address one common scenario: when a person steals someone's identity and seeks to open up new lines of credit in the victim's name. The bill would have permitted Hawaii citizens whose identification had been stolen to "freeze" the release of their credit history by credit reporting agencies. This safeguard would have made it virtually impossible for an identity thief to open an account in an innocent party's name.
Although the Legislature did not pass this measure, the Lingle-Aiona Administration will push for its passage as well as other measures to protect consumers in the upcoming session. As part of its ongoing effort to protect consumers, the Lingle-Aiona Administration looks forward to working with the Legislature to enact tough new laws to curtail identity theft, fraud, and other "e-crimes."
Besides tougher laws, the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) believes that the key to help guard against identity theft is education. The Department launched a new identity theft awareness campaign to educate consumers this week.
The Department's Office of Consumer Protection (OCP) created a series of educational television spots, a new ID Theft website (www.idtheft.hawaii.gov) containing tips on how to protect yourself and what to do if your identity has been stolen, and an ID Theft Hotline (808-587-3222). The television spots are running on all four major stations (KHON, KITV, KHNL, FOX) here in the islands and feature some of the most common ways a person's identity may be stolen, along with a reminder to call any one of the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion) to obtain a free credit report.
With identity theft on the rise — especially here in Hawaii — we strongly believe that public education is critical to protect consumers. At DCCA, we want to remind all consumers to guard against identity theft by placing outgoing mail in U.S. Postal Service collection boxes, contacting the credit reporting agencies to request a free report, and by not giving out personal information to unknown persons. These are just a few examples of how to guard against identity theft. Our basic message to all consumers is: "Don't let bad things happen to your good name."
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