The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council has released its annual list of the best and worst places to do business, based on a comprehensive analysis of tax burdens. In general, they’re seeing state and local governments levy one tax after another, hindering small business growth.

The best place to do business? South Dakota.

The worst is Washington D.C. However, recent actions in the nation’s capitol may prove a boom for small businesses, as Karen Mills goes through the confirmation hearing process to become the new administrator of the Small Business Administration, the U.S. government agency tasked to support small businesses.

In the first of what will continue as a regular series, a panel of experts including a New York University business professor, a Jersey-based environmental engineering entrepreneur and more, discuss what Mills can do to help small businesses, and in turn, what business owners need to know about government programs aimed at helping them.

However, some cities are not waiting for action from the federal government, but rather enticing small businesses in their own ways. That’s the case in Kokomo, Ind., a city of about 50,000 just north of Indianapolis.

Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight has approached Italian automaker Fiat, who recently announced plans to return manufacturing to the U.S. by 2010. Citing proximity to universities and a local economy conducive to business growth, Goodnight told Inside Indiana Business Radio that the Northern Indiana city was a perfect fit for Fiat.

tags: fiat, greg goodnight, small business administration