Oregon

Survey findings and summary

Thumbtack, in partnership with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, has released Oregon's results from the third annual Thumbtack.com Small Business Friendliness Survey. The study, drawing upon data from over 12,000 small business owners, provides new insights into state and local business environments across the nation.

"After a two-month survey of thousands of small business owners nationwide, we've heard directly from Oregon's small businesses that the state could do more to support them," says Jon Lieber, Chief Economist of Thumbtack. "Creating a business climate that is welcoming to small, dynamic businesses is more important than ever, and Oregon has more to do to get there."

Some of the key findings for Oregon include:

• Oregon earned a C+ grade for its overall friendliness.
• Oregon rated as one of the worst states in the nation for hiring new employees, earning a D+ grade on that metric.
• Oregon's regulations received poor marks - overall regulatory friendliness was graded a D, along with health and safety regulations, environmental regulations, and labor laws; zoning and the tax code received a D+.
• Small businesses were slightly more favorable to Oregon's training and networking programs, giving them a B+.
• Portland earned a B- for overall friendliness to small businesses, and a C- for overall regulatory friendliness.
• The top rated states overall were Utah, Idaho, Texas, Virginia and Louisiana. The lowest rated were Rhode Island, Illinois, California, Connecticut and New Jersey.

A copy of the survey's full methodology and analysis paper is available upon request. Please email Thumbtack's Chief Economist, Jon Lieber, at jon.lieber@thumbtack.com for a copy of the paper and with any questions or comments you might have.