For a state that has the highest ratio of entrepreneurs, Montana does not rank well in how it treats those entrepreneurs, and the impacts of those policies are far reaching for every citizen.
Montana ranks 32nd in the 21st annual ranking of all states by the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council (SBE), regarding policies which impact the success of entrepreneurship in their state. Montana’s ranking has varied little over recent years.
The most entrepreneur-friendly states under the “Small Business Policy Index 2017” are: 1) Nevada, 2) Texas, 3) South Dakota, 4) Wyoming, 5) Florida, 6) Washington, 7) Indiana, 8) Arizona, 9) Alabama, 10) Ohio.
In contrast, the policy environments that rank at the bottom include: 40) Rhode Island, 41) Oregon, 42) Iowa, 43) Connecticut, 44) Maine, 45) Hawaii, 46) Vermont, 47) Minnesota, 48) New York, 49) New Jersey, 50) California.
“In the end, the greater the governmental burdens – via taxes, regulations, spending, debt, and failures to adequately execute the essential duties of government – the greater the negatives for economic risk taking, small businesses, and the state’s competitiveness and attractiveness,” explains Raymond J. Keating, SBE Council’s chief economist and author of the study
Five new measurements were added in the 2017 Index including: annual fees on LLCs, health care open access, paid leave mandates, and civil asset forfeiture.