Colo. No. 8 in national small biz friendly ranking

Colorado is ranked as the eighth most small-business-friendly state in the country, while Colorado Springs, Fort Collins and Denver were rated first, 24th and 28th, respectively, among 84 cities, according to a survey conducted by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and Thumbtack.com.

The survey, in which 12,632 entrepreneurs nationwide participated, measures ease of starting a business, ease of hiring employees, effectiveness of government training and networking programs, and the friendliness of local government regulations toward business, health and safety, employment and labor, taxation, licensing, environment and zoning. Only cities that saw 30 or more business people respond to the survey…