Illinois falls behind neighbors in factory ranking

Crain's Chicago Business reports:

As a manufacturing hub, Illinois gets a C, behind five of its six neighbors.

The state improved its overall ranking to 11th nationally from last year, when it got a C, and scored an A for logistics, according to the 2011 Manufacturing and Logistics Report Card from Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., and Conexus Indiana, a manufacturing and logistics non-profit based in Indianapolis.

But Illinois earned Ds on the state's tax climate and benefit costs, two sore points for many employers including heavy-equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. of Peoria.

Besides the state's much-discussed tax burden, companies are upset by unfunded liabilities for public employee pensions, says Michael Hicks, director of Ball State's Center for Business and Economic Research, which has conducted the report for the past four years.

The Illinois Way isn't doing too well no matter what Barack Obama and William Daley tell you.