Connecticut Ranks High in Hiring and Training, Low in Regulatory Environment in Small Business Friendliness Survey

The consumer service website Thumbtack.com, in partnership with the Kauffman Foundation, recently released the results of its third annual survey of its website users on the extent to which their states are friendly to small businesses. Thumbtack analyzed the survey responses from over 12,000 mostly independent small business professionals in 38 states and 82 metropolitan areas and ranked the states on such factors as ease of starting a business and overall regulations. (As Thumbtack noted, the survey is “under-representative of the agricultural, retail, and manufacturing sectors.”)

The survey’s findings are a mixed bag for Connecticut. Connecticut ranked relatively high on providing training and networking opportunities (16th) and making it easier for businesses to hire new employees (17th), but relatively low on the other measures, which included overall regulation (38th). Consequently, Thumbtack ranked 35th among the 38 states on overall small business friendliness.

The survey’s other significant findings included:

1. the friendliness of professional licensing requirements was the most important regulatory issue in determining a state’s overall friendliness;
2. tax rates were a less important factor than the ease of regulatory compliance in determining the overall friendliness score;
3. two-thirds of respondents say they paid their “fair share” of taxes; and
4. small business owners who were aware of training programs offered by the government were significantly more likely to say their government was friendly to small business than those who were not aware of the programs.