
MA, CA take the top spots in Bloomberg's index of innovative states - fawce
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-07/here-are-the-most-innovative-states-in-america
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hwstar
Massachusetts could be even more innovative if they banned noncompetes. EMC is
the biggest employer lobbying to keep noncompetes in the state. Dell, based in
Texas will probably want to keep noncompetes in place as well.

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at-fates-hands
What's their success record for enforcing them?

In Minnesota, I've had companies twice drag me into court trying to enforce a
non-compete and the judge laughed at both companies and I was sent on my way.

The key in both cases was the company I had left was trying to keep me from
working in the same field for a competitor. My attorney argued that if I'm
"gainfully employable" you can't restrict me from earning a living in my
chosen field - to do so would invite economic hardship.

The judge asked if they would rather compensate me for two years at my current
salary (which was a six figure salary), or let me go work for their
competitor. The company quickly chose the latter.

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hwstar
Don't know, as I am in CA. Someone from MA would have to answer this. The
reason I won't consider jobs in states where noncompetes are legal is because
employers will force them on employees during the hiring process (usually by
surprise after the employee has given notice at there previous employer).

Noncompetes would be almost fair if it was required to compensate the employee
for the duration of the time it is enforced. In the US, that's rare, but in
the EU it not uncommon (gardening leave). In other words, the real underlying
reason that noncompetes are used is to limit job-hopping by employees looking
for better working conditions or a higher salary, but under the guise of
prevent company secrets from being disclosed to a competitor is what is sold
to the legislature.

~~~
fps
I've worked for 5 companies since I've lived in MA, I've only ever had to sign
a single non-compete, over 10 years ago. None of the places I've worked since
have had them. I've never met anyone in MA that had one enforced.

~~~
lsllc
Every one of the 4 companies I worked for in MA rolled out the non-compete on
the first day of work. Not one of them even mentioned it beforehand.

Sadly, it's just par-for-the-course for being a high-tech employee in MA.

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mc32
That's quite surprising achievement considering their surface area and pop
size which both relative to CA, are small. And given the CA propaganda, doubly
surprising. On the other hand, they have some great higher ed institutions.

By propaganda I mean the constant CA self congratulatory atmosphere, we're the
best, most innovative, always at the forefront of cool, if we were a nation
we'd rank... economically, etc...

Good on you bay state.

~~~
JoeAltmaier
Well, MA only won by percentages. Of course CA winds by orders of magnitude
when total size of the categories are considered.

CA is larger than most nations on earth. Its economic opportunities are 100
for every 1 anywhere else.

~~~
jedmeyers
I have read somewhere that Santa Clara County's GDP and population is really
close to one of Qatar's.

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tryitnow
These rankings are pretty meaningless.

All of these metrics except for productivity are "density" measures. That is
the size of the state matters (in a way that penalizes states with larger,
more diverse economies).

A better ranking would be to use CSAs. Industry clusters are based more on
region than states. State borders are relatively arbitrary with respect to
technology clusters. CSAs are based on commute times so better reflect
industry clustering.

Having said all that, I think MA is great. If I didn't hate the cold weather
and East coast cultural conservatism I would consider moving to the Boston
area.

~~~
chipgap98
I'm from Boston and am always confused by the whole "East coast cultural
conservatism" thing, care to elaborate?

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guelo
If you haven't lived in California then it's hard to notice the stodginess of
the society you live in.

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thrownaway2424
I can't tell if the hilarity of your statement was intended.

~~~
vinay427
I feel like it wasn't intended. I'm honestly not sure when we arrived at HN
users calling societies outside of California "stodgy."

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seibelj
Boston is filled with college students and skilled professionals. The skilled
professionals work in tech, biotech, finance, and healthcare primarily. Boston
is an amazing city that any one who is tiring of the SF/SV scene should
seriously consider.

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keypusher
MA beat out CA in the following categories:

* Percentage of state GDP spent in R&D.

* Percentage of "tech" companies vs total companies. This counts software, hardware, defense, pharmaceutical, biotech, renewable energy, etc.

* GDP / employed person.

* Percentage of STEM employees / total employees.

CA beat MA in the following categories:

* Percentage of STEM degree holders / total population.

* Patents / US Total and Patents / million people.

All categories were equally weighted.

~~~
EthanHeilman
I would love to know the values at a city resolution.

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dantillberg
Yeah, that would be more valuable. "Boston" is a huge portion of "MA", while
(for example) "San Francisco" is but a small slice of "CA", so if the Boston
area were compared directly against the San Francisco area, the results would
no doubt be quite different.

~~~
keypusher
Many of the Boston area tech companies are actually outside Boston (Cambridge,
Rt 128) while many of the SF area companies are similarly outside San
Franscisco (Palo Alto, Mountain View, Cupertino, Berkeley, etc).

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minikites
It would be interesting to add a column of average income tax rates. At a
glance, it seems like higher tax states tend to have more innovation, but that
could just be my own bias.

(Correlation isn't sufficient to show causation, but it would show that taxes
don't have a negative effect on innovation as many anti-tax proponents would
argue.)

~~~
oldmanjay
If could also show that where innovation has led to exploding revenue,
politicians decided to take a bigger cut. The trouble is, with no way to
isolate the effects, you can only make religious statements about the causes.
People who want more state control will see taxes as a good, as they do given
any set of facts.

~~~
minikites
An influential sect of economics is unashamedly founded on beliefs instead of
empiricism:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praxeology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praxeology)

~~~
sammydavis
Washington state is the easy counter case for high tax states. No state income
tax, 10% sales tax. Doing about as well as these states. In fact, you are
prohibited from moving here. And there's a constant complaint that we are
overtaxed and that adding income taxes would destroy the state (just like
Mass. and Ca. have been destroyed).

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theseatoms
Healthcare tech, which is disproportionately based in MA, is having a moment.
So I imagine that contributed to the ranking.

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davidw
Oregon is 6th - not bad at all considering it's relatively new to tech, and
doesn't have that large a population in any event.

~~~
kyleblarson
And on top of that Oregon is actually a desirable place to live as compared
with MA or CA.

~~~
davidw
California has a bunch of great stuff going for it in terms of weather, a
variety of landscapes, and so on, but between the NIMBYs and the inability to
deal with density... yeah, it's got some serious problems too.

I visited Boston once in the summer. Nice place, but no way would I ever live
there.

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dceddia
Contributing to the ranking of MA is probably Boston's "Innovation
District"[0] that has been renovating some of the less-nice parts of the South
Boston waterfront area.

[0]
[http://www.innovationdistrict.org/faq/](http://www.innovationdistrict.org/faq/)

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dekhn
The difference between the top two is not large enough to conclude one is more
innovative than another.

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iLoch
I'd like to see where Canadian provinces fit on this list. Wonder if those
numbers are available.

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et2o
I don't understand the point of things like these. You could choose any set
metrics or variables that you want. How do we know these arbitrary categories
are actually associated with a meaningful outcome? This is silly

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Zikes
I live in Arkansas and I am only slightly surprised at the state's position. I
did expect we'd beat out Louisiana, at least.

~~~
nickpsecurity
I stay in Tri-State area within Memphis Metro bounds mainly. The culture and
priorities of local governments seem to be against intellectualism or high-
tech to the point that TN and MS's positions on the list don't surprise me.
That TN beat out MS made sense but sad that MS was so low. Thing is, the Mid-
South _needs_ innovation and high-tech jobs to offset the poverty and crime
coming from losses in manufacturing and farming. Yet, it's almost like they
fight positive stuff.

Not sure if any of this applies to AK. The three states usually have more
similarities than differences as it's all similar types of people. Like an
extended family, haha.

~~~
Zikes
I know exactly what you mean, there's a really strong anti-intellectualism
that blankets this region. It's mostly in rural areas, but that accounts for
probably 95% of the state's geography so they get to call all the shots
unfortunately.

Also Arkansas is AR, AK is Alaska. A pretty common mistake, cousin ;D

~~~
nickpsecurity
Oops. I slip on those kind of things all the time haha. Yeah, the rural areas
are dominating in that. I think the push will have to focus on how increased
tech will bring more jobs to the area and maybe (ironically) increase their
voice on politics. A way to stay in the loop, be heard, negotiate deals,
whatever. Might be a decent selling point.

~~~
Zikes
It seems to be working in Texas. Dallas is such a technological hub now that
Texas might actually become a blue state before long! It gives me hope for my
area, at least.

~~~
nickpsecurity
I was thinking about Texas as I wrote that. They're the innovation leaders in
the South. Another tactic of mine is appealing to the pride of local states by
reminding them Texas is kicking their asses and they can't let that happen.
So, we steal anything good they're doing without the... Texan stuff...

What you think? Competitiveness might help where other strategies failed?

Note: Texas has to factor into these discussions one way or another as they've
shown how to get it done. I figure at least Nashville or Knoxville in TN could
follow suite as they're already playing it smarter (err closer to Texas) than
most of the South in IT. Chattanooga went 1Gbps, too. I'm not sure what cities
are comparable in... AR... and MS.

~~~
Greenisus
Southaven MS was one of the first cities in America to offer public wireless
internet service. Otherwise I can't think of a single good thing for tech to
come out of that area.

~~~
nickpsecurity
I was over there just a week ago. Didnt know that about them. The thing they
havd going is they're a miniMemphis with lots of growth and low cost of
living. There's untapped potential there.

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pkaye
Why is Maryland highest is science and engineering degree holders? And how
does that differ from STEM concentration?

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GeneralMayhem
Lots of medical jobs - the NIH is in Bethesda, and Johns Hopkins Hospital is
the #1 employer in Baltimore (with the university not far behind). Plus tons
of NASA (Goddard), DoD (Ft. Meade and NSA headquarters), and related
contractors in the DC suburbs. DC has more post-graduate degrees per capita
than any state (and more than most cities), and Maryland gets a lot of
spillover.

The difference in the statistics is explained below the chart - "STEM
concentration" is based on employment field, regardless of education.

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UshZilla
Ah, well. Only one reaction possible. I like to think this is how Gov. Brown
handled the news:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i51lXfc2zDw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i51lXfc2zDw)

