California created less than 1% of the new jobs created in Texas,  over the past two years. An unresponsive and punitive bureaucracy at both state and local levels in California, along with disturbing demographic and social trends, contribute to the growing exodus of businesses leaving California and the dwindling numbers of new start ups and relocations from other states.

During a recent guest appearance on a local Wall Street Journal Business Network radio station affiliate, host Mark Montgomery and I discuss the needed steps to help get California back in the game of business development.

Here are a few topics from our discussion:

*  California is becoming a brain drain. Only 56% of 2010 California college graduates have found work, and they are starting to move out of state en masse.

*  While Economic Development is 12.5% of the Texas annual budget, it doesn’t even warrant a line item in California’s budget.

*We examine three business surveys with several criteria for ranking state desirability for doing business. Texas ranks very high in all; California is often at the bottom. We look at why.

* Find out what well known company has scrapped all expansion plans in California, and received a personal phone call from Gov. Rick Perry, thanking them for doing business in his state (even if I did screw it up and said “California” instead of “Texas.” Apologies to the governor;-)

* What small business people can do in acts of self-defense against an unfriendly business climate

Listen to the podcast here

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