SOUTH DAKOTA

The index continues to point to South Dakota as the most entrepreneurial-friendly state in the U.S., benefiting most from the lack of individual income tax, capital gains tax, corporate income tax and inheritance tax or "death tax.

Dakota Rising is a three-year Dakota Resources program that helps rural entrepreneurs discover new ways to grow their business.

The EB-5 visa program, a longstanding federal program in which wealthy foreigners can get green cards for investing $500,000 into certain U.S. projects, is at the core of a still-unfolding scandal in South Dakota involving high-ranking politicians, powerful business interests and alleged criminality.

The state Board of Economic Development adopted a new policy today for businesses that receive low-interest state loans for projects but don’t fulfill their job-creation agreements

The boom has many causes, chief among them a strong ag economy scarcely affected by the 2007 recession.

In addition to asking for a criminal investigation, the governor said he has initiated an "independent review" of the state economic development office "to verify that any alleged misconduct was an isolated incident."

Over the past five years, the number of wineries in the state has increased from 15 to 25.

Legislature has rejected attempts to boost minimum, and opponents of an increase say a bump could cost jobs

The project teams can control the path of the balloons by moving them so they can sail on wind traveling in the right speed and direction. Google developed software to help turn the balloons into a platform for providing Internet access.