Tampa Bay Region Second Friendliest Towards Small Businesses

Published by nora | Filed under Buyer / Seller Tips, Economy, Real Estate

Small business owners surveyed by Kauffman Foundation and Thumbtack.com voted the Tampa Bay region as the second friendliest region towards small business enterprises in Florida in 2012.

States, regions and cities were evaluated based on the level of friendliness of these places towards small businesses in 15 categories:

• Small business friendliness
• Ease of starting a small business
• Employee hiring cost
• Regulatory policies and practices
• Health and safety regulations
• Employment and labor regulations
• Taxation
• Licensing regulations
• Environmental regulations
• Zoning regulations
• Training programs
• Networking programs
• Small business health
• Improvement in revenues over the past 12 months
• Small business forecast

The Tampa Bay region ranked highest among all other Florida regions in the promotion of its training programs, overall friendliness towards small businesses, regulatory practices, safety and health regulations, licensing regulations, environmental and zoning regulations, and networking programs.

The region has been active in launching and sustaining various programs to help small business owners, such as providing resources through public and private universities, improving access to business capital and supporting Small Business Development Centers.

Among institutions and organizations helping small business enterprises in the Tampa Bay region are the following:

Small Business Development Center at the University of South Florida
Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce
Tampa Bay Small Business Forum
Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corporation
Tampa-Bay Economic Development Corporation
Minority Business Enterprise and Small Business Enterprise programs of Tampa Bay counties

In September this year, the two-day 2012 Small Business Leadership Forum will be held in Tampa in partnership with the Jim Moran Institute. This event will connect small business owners to tools and resources that will help them succeed.

The state of Florida got high scores in the following criteria:Tax code

• Regulations
• Employment and labor
• Health and safety
• Licensing
• Environmental
• Zoning
• Networking programs
• Training programs
• Ease of starting a business
• Hiring costs

Florida’s most recognized asset is its friendly taxation code, which put the state 16th best among all the 50 states for small businesses in relation to taxation in this 2012 small business survey.