Utah’s business climate is one of the best in the country according to a CNBC ranking. Utah is ranked as one of the countries three top states for business and last year, Forbes ranked Utah as the best state for business.
“Utah’s really setting the standard here,” said Jon Lieber, Chief Economist at thumbtack.com. “And they’re the ones who are kind of setting the curve for the rest of the country.”
Thumbtack is a website that connects businesses. The site recently gave Utah an A+ in a small business friendliness survey. The survey asked small business owners who use the site about the policy environment in the cities and states where they work.
“They think it’s very welcoming,” Lieber said. “They think there’s a great community of business owners who help each other out and provide great networking opportunities—great opportunities to learn how to expand and run your business.
Lieber also said the regulations for small business owners are not too burdensome.
“I think that Utah, in the eyes of our business owners at least, strikes a good balance between consumer protection and not being too heavy handed with dictating terms to the business owners,” Lieber said.
Ben Hart, managing director at the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development said that when it comes to owning and operating a small business, no other state seems to compare to Utah.
“We do have a lot of people here that are interested in starting their own business, but we have a lot of people that will come to Utah ultimately because they recognize that it is a very good place to start a business,” Hart said. “There’s very fertile ground here when it comes to growing and operating a business.”
Hart believes Utah has one of the best workforces in the country, but he is wary of celebrating Utah’s recent ratings.
“We can’t rest on our laurels,” Hart said. “We have to continually say ‘how do we work with education and industry ultimately to create a better prepared workforce?’”