McKee, Commerce Corp. partner with Thumbtack to improve business friendliness

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island earned more failing grades for its business climate Tuesday, in a national ranking of small-business sentiment compiled by the website company Thumbtack Inc.
The news was anticipated.
Lt. Gov. Daniel J. McKee, who took office in January, reached out to the company earlier this year, after noticing Rhode Island had received F grades in several categories for the past several years.
In a collaboration announced Tuesday, the company will work with the state, making specific suggestions for how to disseminate information that might make the state friendlier to small business.
No fee is involved, according to a state spokeswoman.
In the latest rankings, announced Tuesday, Rhode Island received an F in six out of 11 categories, including overall friendliness, ease of starting a business, business regulations, taxes, licenses and zoning. The state received a D in environmental regulations and employment, labor and hiring.
The results are based on survey responses collected in 2014 from 18,000 small business owners, according to Thumbtack’s overview of the scores.
Rhode Island improved somewhat compared to the 2014 results, when it had F grades in nine of 11 categories.
According to the 2015 report, Texas, New Hampshire, Louisiana and Colorado had the highest ratings for being “business friendly.” California, Connecticut, Illinois and Rhode Island earned Fs for their climate.
Providence; New Haven, Conn.; Buffalo, N.Y.; Albuquerque, N.M.; and Hartford earned the survey’s worst scores for cities, as rated by their small business owners.
So what’s being done at the state level now?
McKee, who is co-chairman of the Small Business Advisory Council, asked Thumbtack to facilitate a roundtable discussion, held in May, with Rhode Island small business owners.
About 40 people participated, according to a spokeswoman for McKee.
As a result of an ongoing collaboration, Thumbtack will disseminate information about state programs now available in Rhode Island to its network of small business owners, said Erika Niedowski, a spokeswoman for McKee.

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