Littleton tops new list.
Best CO City to Start a Business
If you’re looking to start a business in a small city in Colorado, your best bet is Littleton, according to a new study.
A 2016 study by personal finance site Wallet Hub looked at more than 1,200 U.S. cities with populations between 25,000 and 100,000. It ranked Littleton 29th in the country for starting a business, and No. 1 in the state.
Other local cities in the top 300 in the country were:
Loveland (59 on the list)
Longmont (70)
Englewood (83)
Lafayette (97)
Commerce City (105)
Broomfield (152)
Greeley (175)
Fountain (226)
Grand Junction (264)
Wheat Ridge (287)
Northglenn (291)
The study looked at three main factors: business environment (including startup rate, industry variety and average revenue per business), access to resources (including financing, investors and employees), and business costs (including office space affordability, cost of living and corporate taxes).
It ranked Holland, Michigan, the best small city in the country to start a business, with Suisun City, California, coming in last. California cities take up the last 24 spots on the list.
The study also talked to experts about how cities can encourage business creation. “The number one rule when building an entrepreneurial ecosystem is that it must be led by the entrepreneurs,” said Birton J. Cowden of the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship at University of Massachusetts Amherst. “So local authorities need to provide a platform that incentivizes startups, look to its top entrepreneurs as the leaders, and then do their best to keep up to allow the entrepreneurs to thrive.”