Best in the Midwest? Not so much.

Ted Strickland has to love this. And considering his record, I'd play this up, too.

Ohio has once again risen above all other Midwest states, this time taking the top spot for its small business climate and entrepreneurship. According to The Small Business & Entrepreneurship (SBE) Council’s “Small Business Survival Index 2009,” Ohio ranks best in the Midwest and No. 11 nationally for its public policy climate for small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Now, rankings are great and all, but the devil is in the details.

With 2/3 of all new jobs created coming from small businesses, it's fair to say that an accurate metric of a state's small business climate would be its unemployment rate.

After all, if a state is attractive to small businesses, they must be employing people, right? Seems simple enough.

Well, currently the "best state in the Midwest" for small business climate has a 10.6% unemployment rate.

So, how about the worst ranked states in the Midwest, Wisconsin (30) and Minnesota (43!).

Boy, their unemployment rate must be awful!

Interestingly enough, that couldn't be further from the truth.

Wisconsin is a full 2.4 points lower than Ohio. Minnesota, supposedly the 7th worst state for small businesses in the nation and worst in the Midwest, bests Ohio's rate by 3.2 points at 7.2% unemployment.

What Ohioan wouldn't give up that 11th place ranking for an unemployment rate like Minnesota's, one that's 30% lower than it is now?

That's what I figured.