PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island received a business friendliness letter score of D+ in a recent survey of small-business owners conducted by Thumbtack released Tuesday.
The D+ score was an improvement, as Rhode Island earned a D in 2018.
Small-business owner respondents in the Ocean State graded the tax code in the state harshest of all categories in the survey, giving it an F.
The state earned a B+ for government websites, its highest grade.
Rhode Island’s D+ ranked No. 41 in the United States this year, an improvement on its No. 48 rank in 2018 with a D.
Thumbtack surveyed more than 5,000 small-business owners in 49 states for the report. The survey, conducted between May 8 and July 1, 2019, contained 41 questions, which were translated into letter grades by Thumbtack.
Components of the overall D+ Rhode Island score from the Thumbtack business friendliness survey from highest grades to lowest:
- Government websites: B+
- Ease of starting a business: B
- Employment, labor and training: D+
- Training and networking programs: D+
- Ease of Hiring: D
- Licensing: D
- Regulations: D
- Tax code: F
Rhode Island’s overall grade was the second-lowest in New England, only ahead of Connecticut, which earned an F grade. Maine was the highest-rated state in the region with an A+ score.
New England grades:
- Maine: A+, an improvement from an A- one year prior
- Massachusetts: A, an improvement from an A- one year prior
- New Hampshire: C-, a decline from a B one year prior
- Vermont: C-, unchanged year over year
- Rhode Island: D+, an improvement from a D one year prior
- Connecticut: F, a decline from C- one year prior
The report also found that small businesses in the Providence metropolitan area gave it a letter grade of C- for 2019, a rank of No. 35. The Providence metro earned a D+ in 2018.
Providence grades from highest to lowest:
- Government websites: A
- Ease of Starting a business: B-
- Employment, labor and hiring: C-
- Licensing: C-
- Ease of hiring: D
- Regulation: D
- Training and networking programs: D
- Tax code: F
Other New England metro grades:
- Manchester, N.H.: A-, from an A in 2018
- Boston: B-, from an A- a year ago
- Bridgeport, Conn.: C-, from a B in 2017
- New Haven, Conn.: C-, a decline from a C in 2017
- Hartford, Conn.: F, a decline from a C in 2018
