Survey: Colorado A Top Small Business State

Date: August 19, 2015

Survey Ranks Denver, Fort Collins, Boulder Among Top US Cities For Small Businesses

According to an annual Small Business Friendliness survey from Thumbtack, Colorado is the fifth-friendliest state in the US for small businesses. The survey of 18,000 US small business owners, 555 of whom hailed from Colorado, asked respondents to rank their city and state governments on various policy factors including how easy it is to start a small business, how good the labor pool is, how complex zoning laws are, and how business-friendly taxes and other regulations are. As the Denver Business Journal noted, Denver was given a B+ grade for “overall business friendliness” and graded A- for “ease of starting a business.” This placed the city in the top 10 across the US for small businesses. Boulder and Fort Collins were also in the top 10 US cities, both earning A grades for overall business friendliness. Having three cities ranked in the top 10 nationwide contributed to the state of Colorado’s overall ranking of fifth in terms of best US state for small businesses. Thumbtack chief economist Jon Lieber noted Colorado has a high number of private and publicly-sponsored training programs, which businesses appreciate. Despite the positive reviews of Colorado, small businesses there, and across the US, “have consistently told us that they welcome support from their governments but are frequently frustrated by unnecessary bureaucratic obstacles,” Lieber added. He said, “Though small businesses told us it was easy to start a business in Denver, like other cities in Colorado the regulatory environment for operating businesses could improve.” In particular, he suggested Denver improve its ease of hiring, which was given a C from survey respondents, a possible sign of wage or benefit regulations that make it tough to hire workers, or a lack of qualified workers due to a stronger economy.

What This Means For Small Businesses

Denver’s small business owners should see the latest survey as a positive indication that their small business is located in one of the most business-friendly cities in the US. However, as the survey shows, Denver’s small businesses face some challenges in the path towards growth, and government regulations can continue to improve to make the city even more business-friendly.

Additional Reading

NFIB previously noted small business optimism in Colorado.

Note: this article is intended to keep small business owners up on the latest news. It does not necessarily represent the policy stances of NFIB.

Related Content: Small Business News | Denver, CO | Economy

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