By Steve Dinnen
In a recent ranking of states that are friendly to small businesses, Washington topped the list. Iowa ranked 37th in Bankrate’s new Small Business Study.
Bankrate analyzed 18 data points to determine its rankings. These criteria included business costs, access to capital, infrastructure, and policy and regulation. While no state can tick all those boxes, states with relatively favorable conditions in many of these categories tended to rank higher on its list.
Washington stood out in three categories: access to capital, the level of small-business activity, and the availability of skilled workers. The state’s biggest areas for improvement are its business costs and tax policies.
Small businesses play a big role in economic development. In Washington, for instance, they accounted for 86% of job growth between 2021 and 2022.
Iowa’s ranking placed it second to last in the Midwest. The state scored poorly in access to capital (47th), infrastructure (40th), business costs (42nd) and policy and regulation (40th). It ranked better in overall business cost (14th) and in robustness of small-business activity (25th).
