Colorado ranked 9th best for small-business policies, costs

Colorado is ranked ninth when it comes to having small-business and entrepreneur- friendly policies and costs, according to an index released Thursday by the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council.

The annual index ranks the 50 states according to 42 policy measures, including a wide array of tax, regulatory and government spending measurements.

“Policies clearly affect the environment for investment, entrepreneurship and small-business growth,” said Karen Kerrigan, the SBE Council’s president and chief executive.

SPONSORED CONTENT

The many benefits of simple, coordinated healthcare

Kaiser Permanente combines health care and coverage in one connected system to maximize employee health and minimize employer costs.

“In order to compete for capital, human capital and business, many governors and state legislatures are pushing forward with policies to improve their tax and regulatory climates.”

The most entrepreneur-friendly states according to the index are South Dakota, Nevada, Texas, Wyoming, Florida, Washington, Alabama, Indiana, Colorado and, North Dakota.

In contrast, according to the index, the 10 most negative policy environments for entrepreneurs are: California, New Jersey, New York, Hawaii, Minnesota, Vermont, Oregon, Iowa, Maine and Connecticut.

Raymond J. Keating, SBE Council’s chief economist and author of the study, noted that five (South Dakota, Nevada, Texas, Wyoming and Washington) of the top six states on the index impose no income taxes, that is, no personal or corporate income and capital gains taxes. And the other state in the top six (Florida) has no personal income or individual capital gains taxes.

“This clearly enhances the incentives for entrepreneurship and investing by not taxing the returns on such critical activities makes for sound, pro-growth, pro-entrepreneurship policymaking,” Keating said.”

The complete report can be accessed online here.