There’s been a lot of good news for Tennessee recently.
First, according to payroll provider Paychex, Tennessee has held steadily on to the number one spot for job growth among small businesses with an addition of 3.7 percent more jobs over the past year, as of June. NFIB/TN State Director Jim Brown credited the state’s central location, low tax rate and cost of living, and favorable business climate.
“We’re a more business friendly state, and a lot of the state’s public policies are moving in the right direction while other states are often moving in the wrong direction for small businesses,” he told the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
As a result, Tennessee was also named one of the top 10 best places for graduates to get a job, according to WalletHub.
In another recent WalletHub report, however, Tennessee ranked closer to the middle of the pack. The study found Tennessee was the 27th best state to start a business. Analysts compared all 50 states using an evaluation of 20 metrics that fell under three key categories: business environment, access to resources, and business costs. These included factors like average growth in number of small businesses, average growth of business revenues, five-year business survival rate, taxes, labor costs, availability of human capital, and financing accessibility.
The Volunteer State scored 45.26 out of 100, ranked 35th for business environment, 40th for access to resources, and 13th for business costs. Compared with neighboring states, Tennessee came out somewhere in the middle. Alabama ranked 42nd, Arkansas 41st, Georgia 8th, Kentucky 19th, Mississippi 28th, Missouri 9th, North Carolina 12th, and Virginia 17th.
