Small business owners in the Magic City are largely happy with the current climate in the city, according to a new study from Thumbtack.
The tech-based organization surveyed thousands of small business owners across the country, and Birmingham ranked 16 out of 95 cities surveyed for overall small business friendliness.
“Small business owners on Thumbtack have consistently told us that they welcome support from their governments but are frequently frustrated by unnecessary bureaucratic obstacles,” said Jon Lieber, chief economist of Thumbtack. “Birmingham has earned decent grades in our survey of small businesses, though they tell us the city could do more to offer business training programs for entrepreneurs.”
The city earned an A+ for labor regulations and an A- for ease of starting a business, Thumbtack said in a release. The city earned an A- for overall small business friendliness.
The Magic City earned a B+ as a location small business owners would encourage other entrepreneurs to start a new business, the survey said.
Birmingham’s worst score was a C- in training and networking programs.
Alabama earned a B+ for licensing and labor regulations.
“Our state has always been pretty friendly towards the ‘little man’,” said one contractor in Birmingham in the survey. “Our current governor’s primary focus is bringing in big manufacturing plants. However, all around those plants, small businesses are popping up regularly.”
This was the first year Birmingham was included in the Thumbtack survey.
To read the complete survey results, click here.
August 19, 2015
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