Maine tops Northeast among best states for starting a small business, new study says
File Photo / Fred Field
Amy Rowbottom, owner of Crooked Face Creamery in Skowhegan, was one of the 44 entrepreneurs participating in the 2020 Top Gun Program. According to a new analysis, she's in the best Northeastern state for starting a small business.
No fooling: Maine is the top state in the Northeast in which to start a small business, says Motley Fool.
The state ranked No. 24 among all 50 and the District of Columbia in a Jan. 19 analysis by Blueprint, a small-business-focused website run by the well-known financial publisher. While Maine’s score of 4.81 on a 10-point scale is only mediocre nationwide, it’s higher than any in the region — just edging New York, which came in at 4.76.
The analysis rated each state on six factors: tax climate, consumer spending, growth rate of new entrepreneurs, business survival rate over five years, labor costs and climate change impact. Publicly sourced data was normalized on the scale and weighted, with the greatest multipliers going to the tax climate, consumer spending and business survival criteria.
Like Maine's overall grade, the state's scores for most of the criteria were mediocre. But Maine excelled when it came to business survival rate, receiving a 7.40, and labor costs, at 7.17.
In the overall scoring, Pennsylvania ranked No. 27 and Massachusetts was No. 30, but no other Northeastern state placed higher than No. 40. D.C. ranked worst in the report, at No. 51, with an overall score of 1.8. Motley Fool deemed the best state for starting a small business to be Montana, which received a 7.39.
During the first three quarters of 2020, Americans filed paperwork to start 3.2 million small businesses, according to census data. However, a survey in December found that one in four small businesses across the U.S. would have to close by June if the economy doesn't improve.
“Outside factors such as geographic location, tax burden and access to resources can all help determine whether your business is a success,” the Blueprint study's author, Mary Girsch-Bock, wrote in her report. “There’s no perfect place for all businesses, but there are a lot of good places to start your business.”
For more information and the complete rankings, click here.
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments