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StumbleReport: Nevada among friendliest states for small businesses
Local analyst says despite pro-business atmosphere, Nevada will lag in recovering from recession
Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009 | 2:05 a.m.
Beyond the Sun
Sun archives
Forget, for a moment, Nevada's high rates of bankruptcies, foreclosures and unemployment.
One business advocacy group, the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council of Oakton, Va., on Tuesday issued a report arguing that Nevada still offers opportunity for entrepreneurs thanks to the state's pro-business atmosphere. Nevada ranked No. 2 in the 14th annual rankings of the states according to their public policy climates for small business and entrepreneurship.
In terms of their policy environments, the Top 10 entrepreneur-friendly states are: 1) South Dakota, 2) Nevada, 3) Texas, 4) Wyoming, 5) Washington, 6) Florida, 7) South Carolina, 8) Colorado, 9) Alabama, and 10) Virginia. The Bottom 10 include: 42) Hawaii, 43) Minnesota, 44) Massachusetts, 45) Rhode Island, 46) Maine, 47) Vermont, 48) New York, 49) California, 50) New Jersey and 51) District of Columbia.
The rankings are officially called the "Small Business Survival Index 2009: Ranking the Policy Environment for Entrepreneurship Across the Nation." The small business group says the index helps business owners, investors and lawmakers understand the "public policy burdens placed on entrepreneurship and small business in the states.''
But despite the business-friendly political climate, not everyone is positive about short-term economic opportunities in Nevada for entrepreneurs.
Las Vegas retail analyst and adviser Pamela Joy Ring is president of The Ring Retail Advisory LLC.
"Up until this economic crisis, I would agree that Nevada was a state which encouraged the prospering of small business and entrepreneurs. The story of Nevada was based on mercurial growth and as the president of the local chapter of the internationally based Turnaround Management Association, our platform was to help advise, encourage and educate our business community to avoid financial distress by growing in a fundamentally right way,'' Ring said in an e-mail Tuesday.
"However, I believe Nevada will be one of the last states to recover from this Great Recession, as we are so dependent on the discretionary consumer who is financially challenged at all income strata,'' she said.
"Retail in Nevada has suffered commensurately to what has occurred nationally and more so because, like the story of Nevada in context to the economy, so much of our income is tied to working in tourism and servicing its end user, the discretionary consumer. In a fallen house-of cards-fashion, jobs, housing and credit have muzzled our ability to spend beyond essentials,'' Ring wrote.
"That said, it is good to know that we have a political and fiscal infrastructure at the ready to support the recovery and comeback of small business and the entrepreneur,'' Ring wrote.
Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council chief economist Raymond J. Keating, author of the study, said in a statement: "Policy matters to the growth and success of small business. The 'Small Business Survival Index' gets at the public policy costs and trends that affect - directly or indirectly - entrepreneurship and small businesses. These measures should matter to everyone because small businesses, of course, drive innovation, economic growth and job creation. If we want to get our economy back on a solid, robust growth track, then we need pro-entrepreneur policies at the federal, state and local levels."
Factors in the index include taxes, regulatory costs, government spending, property rights, health care and energy costs.
And as for Nevada small businesses hoping to survive the recession, Ring offered this advice:
"The strong will survive, that is those retailers who had strong balance sheets heading into this storm, who have built-in efficiencies in managing their inventories and supplier relationships and who are aggressive in offering value propositions to their customers beyond just discounting which, in many instances, can jeopardize their brand and competitive differential," she wrote.
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Yup, Nevada is so business friendly that it's broke, busted and disgusting in the way it throws its residents, students and homeless to the wolves. The labor force is far below par because the state doesn't believe in education. On a list of companies leaving California, Nevada didn't even place in the top five for where they ended up. The word's out on Nevada. Too cheap to be prosperous in the long term.
I started a small business here a few months ago. Let me tell you, I did not find the process friendly at all. With all of the fees associated with starting a business, all of the permits, licenses, etc., it was FAR from easy and friendly. I am employing 5-7 people, and doing what I can to make it happen.
I took what money I had left after losing 40% of my investments in the market, and decided it was going to be better for me to "risk" my own money than to trust it to the Wall Street greedmongers. At every turn in getting my business going, there was a new "fee" or new "permit" or new "tax" to pay.
BUT, it's better than sitting around doing nothing and listening to how bad things are in the economy.
For all of you complaining about the way things are.... get out there and create something and start something fresh to help the economy, not just bitch about it.
Hey CarsonNewshound: Did you even ask yourself why those companys were leaving California to begin with. Bashing Nevada first is so high school!
haha!
this is like the fat girl at the nail salon.
we're SO friendly...but nobody wants to date us.
transplanted
Congratulations for taking that plunge. I know the Sun frowns upon advertising private ventures, but at least give us a hint on what your business is all about.
transplanted
I'm with you. as a small business owner I'm constantly getting new bills and invoices for different government (city, state) "fees" that are constantly being raised. "fee" is the stealth government codename for "tax".
especially now that we have a bunch of liberal fools in charge of our state assembly. it's unreal. they are really trying to kill the geese that lay the golden eggs.
good luck in your business endeavors. we need more people like you and less parasitic politician types.
While "the state" has an intrinsic responsibility to safeguard the public's safety & security (health & safety inspections, honest & fair business practices), if they were sincerely interested in faciliting business startups & expansion, they would make a much greater effort to downsize the bureacracy and streamline the process, unifying State, County and Municipal hurdles into a single (simple) process. It might not save businesses any money up front, but it would lessen the amount of time & effort spent satisfying the government bean counters.
half of the commercial space in this town is vacant,but its small business friendly
thanks for the daily chuckle
peace out
Transplanted: do you care to tell how many dollars did you pay for a start ? Unique lottery prize for the state ? Signing papers is so expensive ..
Yaeh, foreign partners always claim it is the start where you must pay the most not the least. I am wondering what they talk about. Those few departments I took contact, didn't make it easier, almost forget to answer. And what kind of partnership is this ? Discrimination
Friendly? Yes but useful, NO.
No infrastructure, no transit, etc. Thats why business still opens in CA and not in LV.
Yaeh it always falls to the lack of partnership and all money service paid for black cards. I take straight flush.
Don't throw the agreements, pick up the ace.
Mr. Wynn has it right about how to stimulate employment, TAX INCENTIVES TAX INCENTIVES TAX INCENTIVES !!!! Are you listening ?
Wynn is a Bush Fox TV right wing nut job. Caters to the top 2% without a care for the rest of us. Tax cuts failed. Make the top 2% pay for a change.
Without going into the details of my business, it cost me in excess of $50k to get set up and going. It's the costs of insurances, filing fees, permits, and all of the different taxes that pop up that really are expensive and surprising. Not to mention the TIME invloved. It's not a walk in the park and just a matter of "signing papers." One permit just to have my plan reviewed, was close to $2000, an unexpected cost.
One city experience was actually almost amuzing, but mroe sad and time wasting than anything... the place was empty, and yet I had to "take a number" --waited until my number was called, did the necessary paper work, and was sent off to another waiting area...same routine, wait for my number to be called. Finally got to a cashier who took the money, which is what this was all about in the first place - over an hour!
The beaucracy is incredible.
I have recently been checking into several SBA programs, and I haven't made any attempts, but there SEEMS to be a good bit of money available from the Federal government, but it's the local banks that are in control...and we know how cooperative they can be.
Get out there and do something, but be prepared to spend more than you originally planned, and don't be mislead about it being a "friendly" place. I felt like I accomplished the opening IN SPITE OF the government.
Good luck to all small business owners.