Survey shows that Virginia business owners are generally satisfied with what the state has to offer.
Virginia earned an overall A grade for small-business
friendliness, according to a new
survey from Thumbtack.com.
These results were issued as part of Thumbtack’s fourth annual Small Business Friendliness Survey,
which surveyed more than 18,000 business owners across the country for their
thoughts on their home state’s attitudes toward small business.
The survey reveals that Virginia business owners are the
happiest with the state when it comes to licensing, environmental issues and
the ease of starting a business. The state’s only non-A grade was in zoning
issues, which still performed relatively well with a B+ grade.
These positive results are especially powerful considering
Virginia is surrounded
by states in which business owners are visibly less satisfied:
Maryland earned an average C- grade, North Carolina a C+ and Kentucky a B-.
Nonetheless, the state’s general results indicate an
improvement from 2012, the first year that Thumbtack began issuing this survey.
That year, Virginia’s regulations and zoning also received relatively poor
reviews.
Thumbtack’s survey also includes information on specific
cities, in which Richmond received an A+ grade and Virginia Beach an A-. The
sentiment in those cities was characterized as “Somewhat
Positive.”
Nationally, the only overall A+ grades went to Texas, New
Hampshire and Utah. Small business owners responded the most negatively in
California, Connecticut, Illinois and Rhode Island—those four states received
overall F grades.
