U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

30–505 WASHINGTON : 2018

COMMUNITIES THAT THINK SMALL AND WIN 

BIG 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS 

UNITED STATES 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

HEARING HELD 

JUNE 20, 2018 

Small Business Committee Document Number 115–080 

Available via the GPO Website: www.govinfo.gov 

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Congress.#13
(II) 

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio, Chairman 

STEVE KING, Iowa 

BLAINE LUETKEMEYER, Missouri 

DAVE BRAT, Virginia 

AUMUA AMATA COLEMAN RADEWAGEN, American Samoa 

STEVE KNIGHT, California 

TRENT KELLY, Mississippi 

ROD BLUM, Iowa 

JAMES COMER, Kentucky 

JENNIFFER GONZA ́ LEZ-COLO ́ N, Puerto Rico 

BRIAN FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania 

ROGER MARSHALL, Kansas 

RALPH NORMAN, South Carolina 

JOHN CURTIS, Utah 

NYDIA VELA ́ ZQUEZ, New York, Ranking Member 

DWIGHT EVANS, Pennsylvania 

STEPHANIE MURPHY, Florida 

AL LAWSON, JR., Florida 

YVETTE CLARKE, New York 

JUDY CHU, California 

ALMA ADAMS, North Carolina 

ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York 

BRAD SCHNEIDER, Illinois 

VACANT 

KEVIN FITZPATRICK, Majority Staff Director 

JAN OLIVER, Majority Deputy Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

ADAM MINEHARDT, Staff Director 

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C O N T E N T S 

OPENING STATEMENTS 

Page 

Hon. Steve Chabot ................................................................................................... 1 

Hon. Yvette Clarke .................................................................................................. 2 

Hon. Nydia Vela ́zquez ............................................................................................. 14 

WITNESSES 

Mr. Greg Prestemon, President & CEO, EDC Business & Community Partners, St. Charles, MO .......................................................................................... 5 

Mr. Derek Miller, President & CEO, Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown 

Alliance, Salt Lake City, UT ............................................................................... 6 

Ms. Vanessa Wagner, Small Business and Entrepreneurship Manager, 

Loudoun County Department of Economic Development, Ashburn, VA ......... 8 

Mr. Gregg Bishop, Commissioner, NYC Department of Small Business Services, New York, NY .............................................................................................. 10 

APPENDIX 

Prepared Statements: 

Mr. Greg Prestemon, President & CEO, EDC Business & Community 

Partners, St. Charles, MO ............................................................................ 25 

Mr. Derek Miller, President & CEO, Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown 

Alliance, Salt Lake City, UT ........................................................................ 32 

Ms. Vanessa Wagner, Small Business and Entrepreneurship Manager, 

Loudoun County Department of Economic Development, Ashburn, VA .. 36 

Mr. Gregg Bishop, Commissioner, NYC Department of Small Business 

Services, New York, NY ............................................................................... 43 

Question and Answer for the Record: 

Question from Hon. Adams to Mr. Greg Prestemon and Answer from 

Mr. Greg Prestemon ..................................................................................... 53 

Question from Hon. Adams to Mr. Derek Miller and Answer from Mr. 

Derek Miller .................................................................................................. 55 

Question from Hon. Adams to Ms. Vanessa Wagner and Answer from 

Ms. Vanessa Wagner .................................................................................... 56 

Questions from Hon. Adams to Mr. Gregg Bishop and Answer from 

Mr. Gregg Bishop .......................................................................................... 57 

Additional Material for the Record: 

National Main Street Center (NMSC) ............................................................ 60 

Thumbtack ........................................................................................................ 62 

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COMMUNITIES THAT THINK SMALL AND WIN 

BIG 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 2018 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS, 

Washington, DC. 

The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 11:03 a.m., in Room 

2360, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Steve Chabot [chairman of the Committee] presiding. 

Present: Representatives Chabot, King, Luetkemeyer, Marshall, 

Curtis, Vela ́zquez, Lawson, Clarke, and Schneider. 

Chairman CHABOT. Good morning. 

The Committee will come to order. And we are supposed to have 

votes in just a little while. So we are going to try to get off as 

quickly as possible and on time and then move pretty rapidly so 

we can get through as many of the testimonies as possible here. 

So, before I begin my opening statement, I would like to thank 

Mr. Kelly, who is not with us right yet, but he is Chairman of the 

Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight, and Regulations, for 

inviting me to participate in Monday’s field hearings in Southaven, 

Mississippi. I enjoyed the southern hospitality and appreciated the 

opportunity to talk shop with rural small business owners. And I 

am happy to report that our Mississippi witnesses reflected the 

surging optimism measured in the latest National Federation of 

Independent Business survey. 

Here at the Small Business Committee, we like to think that 

small business owners’ optimism is, at least in part, a result of the 

hard work that we do here in this room on both sides of the aisle, 

because this, as I always like to say, is a Committee that really 

does work in a bipartisan fashion as much as possible. 

Of course, the Committee cannot take all the credit. The historic 

progress made to reduce tax and regulatory burdens on America’s 

small businesses is a result of congressional action and support 

from the White House as well and, obviously, particularly for the 

hard work of small businesses all across America. That is where 

the real effort is, and we are seeing the result of that now. 

We rely on local policymakers and community organizations to 

implement reforms, develop innovative support systems, and advocate for our Nation’s 30.2 million small businesses. From 

Southaven to Simi Valley, small businesses are creating more jobs, 

reinvesting in their employees, updating new equipment, and setting higher goals for growth. That doesn’t mean we can take our 

foot off the gas pedal. There is a lot more work to be done. 

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This Committee, we are here today to highlight communities that 

have developed thriving small business ecosystems. In your community, you may see shops run by local artisans and farmers and 

restauranteurs, but you probably won’t see what is happening behind the scenes. Every small business ecosystem relies on a delicate balance of support and resources to survive. 

The creation of a healthy ecosystem requires significant investment by all participants, small business owners, support organizations, and policymakers. To be successful, each ecosystem develops 

according to the unique needs of its location. No two Main Streets 

are identical. Each community capitalizes on its own unique offering. 

Policymakers and support organizations, like the ones we have 

on this panel, have developed innovative strategies, resources, and 

measurements to ensure local small businesses are thriving. Our 

witnesses will detail the investments required for a businessfriendly community. They will also discuss the economic, social, 

and cultural impact of small business investment. 

I have observed this phenomenon in my district, specifically on 

the revitalized Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. And I would look forward to hearing more success stories from our witnesses today, and 

I am grateful for their participation here and their efforts back in 

their communities. 

And I would now like to yield to the gentlelady, Ms. Clarke, for 

a purpose of making an opening statement. The Ranking Member, 

Ms. Vela ́zquez, is not able to be with us right now, but I think will 

be here later. 

Ms. CLARKE. That is my understanding, Mr. Chairman. 

And I thank you for yielding to our panelists. We want to welcome you and your expert testimony here today. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Our nation’s 30 million small businesses play a critical role in 

their local communities. However, starting a small business isn’t 

easy. Nine out of 10 startups fail because of a multitude of obstacles that stand between an entrepreneur and a successful business. 

For startups to succeed, they need access to capital, a solid business plan, and a strong workforce. Although SBA offers some of 

these services nationally, local entrepreneurial and small business 

development programs can provide tailor-made solutions to fit the 

community. 

Today, we have representatives from several municipalities that 

are filling this gap and helping Main Street America grow. These 

programs are set up around the country and offer a variety of incentives and services that make starting and growing a business 

easier. From finding a business location to developing the skills of 

young workers, such services provide the catalyst for small businesses to thrive. 

Some provide financial incentives like specialized grants and 

loans so businesses can hire more workers or expand work space. 

In fact, our witness today, the New York City Department of Small 

Business Services, is offering a loan program for women and minority business owners to help traditionally underserved portions of 

the community. 

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But they offer much more than just financial incentives. Local organizations provide site selection services to help firms maximize 

exposure to their target markets and identify new customers. 

Through professional counseling, which can range from pro bono 

legal assistance to business planning, innovators can learn how to 

optimally run their operations for success. 

Finally, we all know a business is only as strong as its workforce. 

To that end, some localities have begun offering grants and tax incentives for apprenticeships and on-the-job training. This allows 

workers to gain valuable new skills so businesses are better able 

to compete in the marketplace. 

This hearing gives us the opportunity to analyze the innovative 

ideas deployed by our witnesses and explore what makes a town, 

city, or county a great place for small business. It is my hope that 

we can establish a set of best practices for these programs, which 

can be used by other municipalities and future federal programs to 

stimulate small business growth. 

Thank you all for being here today. I appreciate our witnesses 

taking time from their busy schedules to join us. 

And I yield back, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman CHABOT. Thank you very much. The gentlelady 

yields back. 

And if Committee members have opening statements, I would 

ask they be submitted for the record. 

And we will take just a moment to explain our rules relative to 

timing. They are pretty simple. You get 5 minutes, and then we get 

5 minutes to ask questions. And there are some lights to assist you 

there. The green light will be on for 4 minutes; the yellow light will 

come on and will be on for 1 minute; and then the red light will 

come on to let you know the 5 minutes is up. And if you could kind 

of stay within those parameters, we would greatly appreciate it. 

And I will—now we will go ahead and introduce our distinguished panel here this morning. And I would like to yield to the 

gentleman from Missouri, Mr. Luetkemeyer, who is the Vice Chairman of this Committee, to introduce our first witness. 

Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

I am pleased to introduce today one of my constituents, Greg 

Prestemon, who serves as the President and CEO of the Economic 

Development Council of St. Charles, Missouri, where he has 

worked to provide startup assistance, small business financing, and 

business attraction and retention programs for St. Charles County 

there in my Third Congressional District. 

Mr. Prestemon has dedicated his career to making St. Charles 

County the most attractive destination for entrepreneurs and small 

businesses alike. Prior to coming to St. Charles EDC, Mr. 

Prestemon was the Executive Director for the Grinnell 2000 Foundation, where he directed a multicommunity development program. 

Previously, Mr. Prestemon worked as a professional economic developer in New York. We won’t hold that against him because he 

has become Missourianized now. He is one of us. Mr. Prestemon attended the University of Iowa, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts 

in political science and government and a subsequent master of 

arts degree in economic development with a concentration in development finance. 

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Mr. Prestemon, thank you for being here. Always a pleasure to 

see you. Welcome, Greg, and look forward to your testimony. 

Chairman CHABOT. Thank you very much. 

And our next witness will be Derek Miller, the newly appointed 

President and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance. Mr. Miller previously served as Chief of Staff to Governor 

Gary Herbert and as Managing Director of the Governor’s Office of 

Economic Development under Governor John Huntsman, Jr. He 

began his career in Washington, D.C., and spent 3 years as a Legal 

Counsel to House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, 

and we thank you for your participation. 

Our third witness will be Ms. Vanessa Wagner, who serves as 

Loudoun County’s Small Business and Entrepreneurship Manager. 

In this capacity, she is dedicated to supporting small businesses 

and growing the entrepreneur ecosystem in the county. She has 

more than 10 years of marketing and program development experience with small business and international organizations. 

And we welcome you here as well, Ms. Wagner. 

And I would now like to yield to the acting Ranking Member, Ms. 

Clarke, for the purpose of introducing our fourth and final witness. 

Ms. CLARKE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

As Commissioner of the New York City Department of Small 

Business Services, Mr. Greg Bishop is charged with running a dynamic city agency focused on equity of opportunity, economic selfsufficiency and mobility for New York City’s diverse communities. 

SBS actively connects New Yorkers to good jobs, creates stronger 

businesses, and builds a thriving economy in neighborhoods across 

the five boroughs. 

A New York City native, Mr. Bishop began his career at the 

agency in 2008 designing programs to make it easier for businesses 

to start and grow and to recover from emergencies. After a number 

of successful promotions, he was appointed commissioner by Mayor 

Bill de Blasio in November of 2015. 

Mr. Bishop holds a master’s degree from Florida State University, a BS from Florida A&M University, and he is also a graduate 

of Harvard Kennedy School’s Senior Executives in State and Local 

Government Program. Thank you for being here today. 

And on a side note, Mr. Prestemon, once a New Yorker, always 

a New Yorker. 

I yield back. 

Chairman CHABOT. The gentlelady’s comment will be stricken 

from the record. No, just kidding. Just kidding. I am not a judge 

here. 

Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman CHABOT. And I am from Ohio. Yeah. But we appreciate the sentiments. 

And before we get to Mr. Prestemon, I would just remind folks 

that we are going to have votes here shortly. If you hear the buzzers go off, just ignore them, and we will try to get through a number of these. We have 15 minutes to get over there. So we will 

probably—even after that—and then it will go off again 5 minutes 

later, and we may still go on, but members will have time to get 

over and vote. 

So, Mr. Prestemon, you are recognized for 5 minutes. 

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STATEMENTS OF GREG PRESTEMON, PRESIDENT & CEO, EDC 

BUSINESS & COMMUNITY PARTNERS, ST. CHARLES, MO; 

DEREK MILLER, PRESIDENT & CEO, SALT LAKE CHAMBER 

AND DOWNTOWN ALLIANCE, SALT LAKE CITY, UT; VANESSA 

WAGNER, SMALL BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP MANAGER, LOUDOUN COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ASHBURN, VA; AND GREGG BISHOP, COMMISSIONER, NYC DEPARTMENT OF SMALL BUSINESS SERVICES, 

NEW YORK, NY 

STATEMENT OF GREG PRESTEMON 

Mr. PRESTEMON. Thank you. Well, I very much appreciate this 

opportunity. I am really honored to be here. 

Chairman CHABOT. Could you pull the mike up a little bit? It 

will—— 

Mr. PRESTEMON. And I am proud of having spent a little time 

in New York, so especially in August, which is much nicer. 

I represent a 30-member board of directors that is a true public/ 

private partnership. We have 10 local government representatives 

and 20 private sector folks. So—and I am representing a county 

that has about 400,000 people, somewhere north of 9,000 small 

businesses. 

So we have a really simple mission as far as I am concerned: It 

is to help businesses and the communities in our county to succeed 

and grow, you know. And ever since the EDC’s inception in 1992, 

we have concentrated the lion’s share of our resources on small 

business development, for sure. 

We do this through two main flagship programs. We are what is 

called a Certified Development Company, or CDC, so we operate 

the 504 Loan Program, which is ultimately under your jurisdiction 

here, and we are a pretty big player in that. We have a portfolio 

today of about 120 million and, you know, almost 300 loans from 

all across the State of Missouri. 

But we are also an important participant in the Missouri—University of Missouri Small Business Technology Development Center 

Program, which is a mouthful. While our local impacts have been 

large, I think the statewide impacts are even more important, I 

think are stunning. From 2015 to 2017, the statewide network of 

SBTDCs, which are very thinly staffed, by the way, have helped 

generate over $1 billion in annual sales for those companies that 

they served and north of $1 billion in procurement awards, which 

I know is something that is close to the heart of this Committee; 

that is the PTAC program, which is part of that SBDC network. 

But enough about the numbers. I want to talk about the principles that we use at the EDC, and I think you will find some commonality between what we do and what the other speakers were 

talking about. I think that we have been successful in part because 

we believe that all small businesses are important. We think the 

mom-and-pop retailers or the auto repair shop is just as important 

as the IT technology startup. We want those too, but we have had 

to kind of serve the companies that come in front of us so we are 

market-oriented. 

So our approach is not to target a particular type of business but 

instead to help what the market provides. So all small business is 

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important, is our main principle. The second one is that we strive 

to have all of our programs—and there are many—kind of be in 

alignment with each other. Even in a small organization, it is easier for silos to develop. 

So, for example, whenever we have a 504 borrower, we try very 

hard to make sure that they are SBDC clients as well and vice 

versa. You know, that only makes sense because 504 borrowers 

need to repay federally guaranteed loans, and so we want them to 

be healthy for that reason, if no other. And then all SBDC clients, 

you hope, will get to a critical mass where they are in need of longterm fixed-rate financing that a 504 program provides. So that 

alignment, I think, is important. And I think that we are somewhat 

unique in doing that in terms of the other CDCs around the United 

States. 

Second thing, we are trying to strive for our programs to be community sensitive. And I will tell you a story. About 2 years ago, a 

company called the Good News Brewing came to—an entrepreneur 

came to us with an idea to set up a microbrewery in an area in 

St. Charles County that would not be considered to be trendy or 

chic and maybe out of favor. 

And through that process, we found that there was indeed a market. And fast forward, they now have a thriving microbrewery business. Now they have come back to us for a second idea, again in 

an area that is not particularly in favor, to open a really kind of 

high-end coffee shop. You know, it is something that—and this one 

will work too. 

That kind of synergy between the best of the SBDC and the best 

of the financing programs will be—you know, has really borne 

fruit, and I think it potentially could be a game changer for this 

kind of older area of St. Charles County. And I think that story you 

could find all across the United States, and I know I could tell you 

dozens of them, but that would be an example. 

And, finally, we are able to do this because of strong partnerships. I mean, the—certainly the EDC made a difference in this 

particular company. But, you know, between the University of Missouri, obviously the SBA, the city of O’Fallon, St. Charles County 

government, all of them had to coalesce around the goal of helping 

this individual small business and other businesses just like them. 

No one participant had all the ingredients to get this job done, 

but together they did. And this is a success story, and it is not a 

bad day’s work for all of the people involved in this kind of thing. 

So, on behalf of businesses and communities in St. Charles County, 

I want to give you thanks. Zero, phew. 

Chairman CHABOT. Right on the dot. Thank you very much. We 

appreciate it. 

Mr. PRESTEMON. Sure. 

Chairman CHABOT. Mr. Miller, you are recognized for 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF DEREK MILLER 

Mr. MILLER. Chairman Chabot, Ms. Clarke, and members of the 

Committee, thank you for the invitation to speak to you today 

about Utah’s thriving small business ecosystem. 

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Utah’s economy is one of the best in the nation. Utah ranks number one in the U.S. for job growth and enjoys consistently low unemployment. I am proud to say that small business is at the heart 

of this success, with over 277,000 small businesses that make up 

99 percent of Utah companies and 57 percent of total employees. 

Now, you may be asking yourself, as a visiting Chinese diplomat 

asked me recently, how did a state I have never heard of become 

the fasting growing economy in the United States of America? I 

want to share with you what I shared with this diplomat, four 

areas that I believe are fundamental to Utah’s economic success. 

The first is a growing and educated workforce. Any business will 

tell you, if they can’t find good people, then nothing else matters. 

Utah’s public education system has a strong partnership with our 

business community to identify and fill gaps in our workforce. One 

way this collaboration is evident is through the Talent-Ready Utah 

Initiative, which includes technical training for students throughout high school so they graduate not only with a degree but with 

a high-wage, high-demand job. 

The second factor is taxes and regulation. Utah benefits economically from our flat 5 percent personal and corporate tax rate. Low 

taxes are important to small businesses, but equally important is 

a stable tax rate. Utah’s tax rate has not risen in nearly 20 years. 

In 2011, the state conducted one of the most thorough regulatory 

reviews in the nation. The experience that gave rise to this reform 

was a small business owner who wondered aloud, why can I not fax 

or email my license renewal instead of having to mail it? The question spurred a regulation review, caused us to look at the regulation, and sure enough, the rule only allowed for mail—no email, no 

fax, and certainly no online renewal. A closer inspection showed 

that the rule was written in 1973. Based on this experience, Governor Herbert asked each member of his cabinet to review every 

state regulation and asked two simple questions: Does the rule impact business, and what is the public purpose? In nearly 400 instances, there was no good answer to that second question, and so 

those rules were either modified or eliminated. 

The third factor is incentives. Incentivizing business creation and 

sustainable growth is key to Utah’s thriving small business ecosystem. There are several State programs that assist new and existing businesses. One example is the Utah Science, Technology, 

and Research, or USTAR, Initiative that specifically assists startup 

and early stage tech companies, like ENVE Composites, a small 

business that designs and manufactures carbon fiber bicycle wheels 

and components. 

The final area is international trade. It may surprise you to find 

out how important trade is to an inland state like Utah. Trade is 

not killing Utah; in fact, in Utah, Utah is killing it when it comes 

to trade. Let me share with you a story that illustrates the point. 

Butcher’s Bunches makes all-natural fruit preserves. The Butcher 

family began selling their product at a farmers’ market in Park 

City to tourists from around the world. They began asking Liz 

Butcher how they could buy her jam at their home. Liz had never 

considered selling outside of the United States, but the encouragement from her customers gave her the confidence to try, and today 

she sells to Japan, the U.K., France, Australia, Canada, and Dubai. 

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These are all ways, I believe, Utah is doing it right when it 

comes to supporting small businesses, but that does not mean that 

those companies don’t face challenges. In fact, in some rural areas 

of our state, the economic story is very different from what I have 

just described. 

To address this, Governor Herbert set a goal to create 25,000 

jobs in 25 rural counties. I was grateful to lead the 25K jobs tour 

that kicked off this goal. Over 20 business service providers visited 

the 25 rural counties to connect local businesses and job seekers 

with available tools and resources. 

Based on my experience on the 25K jobs tour, may I just mention 

what I think is the most important element of Utah’s economic success: That is our people. Utah’s small business owners, whether in 

urban Salt Lake City or rural Salina, epitomize our state’s motto 

of industry. They are good, hardworking people with a strong entrepreneurial spirit. Utah’s pioneering heritage is alive and well 

across the state from Grouse Creek to Montezuma Creek. Thank 

you again for the opportunity. 

Chairman CHABOT. Thank you very much. 

And the buzzer just went off. We have 15 minutes so we should 

be able to get through the final two, if they keep on their 5 minutes 

as these two did. 

So, Ms. Wagner, you are recognized for 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF VANESSA WAGNER 

Ms. WAGNER. Great. Thank you. 

I would like to begin by thanking the Congressional Small Business Committee for inviting me to testify today on behalf of 

Loudoun County Economic Development and our small business 

partners. 

As a Small Business Entrepreneurship Manager, I am charged 

with building an entrepreneurial ecosystem to ensure we have the 

programs, people, and places so that our small businesses can 

thrive. While my focus is on technology startups, the programs we 

support help our Main Street businesses as well. 

So one of the things I would like to urge today is building an ecosystem around your community’s unique advantages will prove 

more sustainable and impactful than placing a trend in the middle 

of your city. 

What I learned in my experience—and I will admit, when I started as a stakeholder, I wanted to hit all the buzzwords. I wanted 

to find out all of the new coworking spaces, the venture capitalists. 

I chased around all of the pitch events. What I quickly learned in 

my role is that we already had the resources we need in Loudoun 

County to be successful. 

And one of those biggest resources I encourage people to look at 

and identify is the existing businesses within their community. By 

utilizing a mix of your legacy businesses, your large giants, in addition to your small, growing companies, that is where you are going 

to find the talent and the experience as well as the inspiration for 

your next generation of businesses. 

I want to start by talking about some of the giants in your community or the legacy businesses that could help support an entrepreneurial ecosystem. In Loudoun County and the D.C. region, one 

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of the most impactful organizations in our history remains America 

Online, or AOL. From 1994 through its growth into the 21st century, AOL had a giant impact on our region. Not only did they develop the region’s technology workforce but also the spirit of innovation. 

When AOL moved its headquarters from Dulles to New York in 

2007, it continued to have an impact on our region. It left behind 

a wake of tech talent but also executives that later became future 

founders as well as angel and institutional investors for our next 

generation. 

Even after the presence of AOL began to slow down, the company continued to have an impact. They worked to create an incubator within their walls, allowing new startups to come inside, utilize the existing infrastructure, the talent that they had, the 

human resources, and today, our region is benefiting from the results of these efforts. In Loudoun County in particular, that has inspired a new wave of startups, companies like MilAdvisor, 

ThreatQuotient, ParkMyCloud, X-Mode Social, and many others in 

the area. 

As the Entrepreneurship Manager in Loudoun, I didn’t seek to 

change what was working with this legacy business or their impact; rather, it was my role to promote this opportunity to the right 

startups. This could be as simple as an email introduction or sponsoring events to be hosted at the facility so that new entrepreneurs 

could be inspired by the potential. 

These relationships—as Fishbowl Labs did end up leaving 

Loudoun County, the relationships forged still continued to help 

our community because when those companies were suddenly finding themselves without a home or an incubator, we were able to 

work with another entrepreneur in the community to place them 

in a new building, Terminal 68. At that time, one of the companies, 

X-Mode Social, only had 10 employees, but through the investment 

of time made from the entrepreneurs and the talent already in our 

community, that company had 10 employees back in August and is 

now pushing 40. And that is utilizing our legacy resources. 

But relying on the largest employers is providing a disservice to 

your entrepreneurs. Facilitating introductions and relationships to 

your growing companies and early stage entrepreneurs should be 

included in any community strategy. Loudoun small business partners leverage growing firms such as Omnilert, Cofense, Telos, 

K2M, amongst others. The advantage of working with this new cohort of technology firms is that they can provide recent examples 

of challenges and solutions faced in building their business. 

Our growth firms are invested in the region because, as they say, 

all ships rise with the tide. A community has to seek unique ways 

to make these interactions. For us in Loudoun, leveraging our 

chamber in the Loudoun Technology Coalition is a natural way. 

For example, our cybersecurity firm Telos, one of the fastest 

growing cyber firms in the country, they sponsor the tech coalition 

and work to enhance the programming there. Just last week, we 

had three executive members from Telos sit with our small 

startups, our entrepreneurs, our solopreneurs to talk about trends 

in cyber. And when I left, conversations were still going. So the results of these interactions is still yet to be known. 

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So, when entrepreneurship catalysts are seeking to build onto 

their entrepreneurial ecosystems or their resources, they don’t need 

to look much further than their existing businesses. This is where 

you are going to find strong assets for mentorship, experience, and 

support in building your next generation of entrepreneurs. 

My testimony focuses on examples related to technology enabled 

firms, but if I had more time, I could easily sit here and give you 

examples of how this helped our rural community, our craft beverage industry, and many more. One size does not fit all for entrepreneurship, and I encourage you to look at your existing resources 

first. Thank you. 

Chairman CHABOT. Thank you very much. 

Mr. Bishop, you are recognized for 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF GREGG BISHOP 

Mr. BISHOP. Thank you. Good morning, Chairman Chabot, and 

sitting in for Ranking Member Vela ́zquez Representative Clarke, 

and other members of the House Small Business Committee. My 

name is Greg Bishop, and I am the Commissioner of the New York 

City Department of Small Business Services. I thank you for this 

opportunity to testify before the Committee and share some of the 

great work and best practices that we are seeing in New York City. 

At SBS, we aim to unlock economic potential and create economic 

security for all New Yorkers by connecting them to quality jobs, 

building stronger businesses, and fostering thriving neighborhoods. 

Unlike other city agencies that work with businesses, we do not enforce regulations but rather provide the necessary services to help 

them start, operate, and grow. 

We provide services to New York City’s 230,000 small businesses 

through our network of seven Business Solution Centers and eight 

industrial business service providers. At SBS, we know that small 

businesses are essential to the local economy and character of our 

neighborhoods. Despite the fact that small businesses face challenges due to unprecedented growth New York City has seen in recent years, our small businesses continue to grow. 

Over the last 10 years, the number of businesses in New York 

City have increased by 10 percent according to the U.S. Census 

County Business Patterns report. That is why I believe it is critical 

for municipalities to incorporate small businesses into their economic development strategy because it not only helps small businesses grow but also provides their city with good jobs, vibrant 

neighborhoods, and a better quality of life. 

Many small businesses struggle to access credit so SBS provides 

free financing services through our business centers. We work regularly with more than 40 different lenders, the majority of which 

are community development financial institutions and other financial institutions. CDFIs play a critical role in our efforts to providing financing to businesses that are not able to access traditional bank financing. 

Since the start of this administration, SBS has connected approximately 1,800 businesses to over $155 million in financing. As 

we see businesses grow in New York City, the city has also implemented necessary regulations to worker protections. Regulations 

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11 

are important to ensure health and public safety, but they should 

be fair and not overly burdensome to small business owners. 

In 2015, the mayor launched Small Business First, a major 

multiagency effort to reduce the regulatory burden and help businesses understand and comply with city regulations. To make it 

easier, we built a state-of-the-art NYC business portal to serve as 

a central repository of key business information and a single place 

for business interactions with the city. 

On the NYC Business Portal, a business owner can create an account, link their licenses, permits, inspections, and violations from 

city agencies onto one dashboard. In 2017, there were more than 

1 million visits to the NYC Business Portal. 

A key focus of our work is ensuring our program is accessible to 

all New Yorkers, including women entrepreneurs. Through extensive research and outreach, we developed WE NYC, a series of programs to address the most common challenges women entrepreneurs face. 

Most recently, we launched WE Fund Crowd, a city-led 

crowdfunding program that helps women entrepreneurs access affordable capital and start businesses. WE NYC has been a great 

success and other cities have taken notice, with Boston recently 

launching their own women entrepreneurs Boston program modeled on WE NYC. 

Growing up with my grandmother in Grenada, who supported 

our household as a women entrepreneur, I came to understand 

firsthand that business ownerships can empower family and support greater economic opportunity for future generations. 

With approximately 6 out of 10 New Yorkers being either immigrants or children of immigrants and nearly half of small businesses owned by immigrant entrepreneurs, New York City has always been and will continue to be a city of immigrants. 

To that end, SBS created Building Your Business in New York 

City, a guide for immigrant entrepreneurs which is available in 

seven languages. Through the use of the city’s purchasing power, 

the New York City Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprise Program aims to support the growth of minority and womenowned businesses and ensure our vendors reflect the diversity of 

our city. 

At SBS, we provide essential capacity-building services and technical assistance so businesses can compete for and execute government contracts. The Procurement Technical Assistance Center, 

funded in part by the Department of Defense and administered by 

the Defense Logistics Agency, offers critical support to small businesses. 

We believe that in order for small businesses to gain and sustain 

growth, they must be prepared to take advantage of multiple revenue streams, particularly minority, women, veteran, and servicedisabled veteran-owned businesses that have historically not had 

access to government contracting opportunities. 

As you can see, New York City has made small businesses a priority, and as a result, we have seen them flourish. We hope municipalities from across the country use New York City as a model and 

replicate our successes by recognizing the strength and diversity in 

our city and helping immigrant women, black entrepreneurs, and 

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other entrepreneurs of color to grow thriving businesses and careers. We are ensuring every New Yorker has access to economic 

security while growing our city’s economy. 

Thank you for the opportunity to share the importance of small 

businesses in New York City and cities across the nation. I look 

forward to your questions. 

Chairman CHABOT. Thank you very much. We appreciate all 

the witnesses for staying right on time. We appreciate it. 

We are going to be in recess for a little while. We have votes. 

And then we will be back here to follow up with questions. So I 

would encourage all members to come back as quickly as they can 

after votes, and we are in recess. 

[Recess.] 

Chairman CHABOT. The Committee will come back to order, 

and we will hopefully be joined by some of our colleagues here 

shortly. 

And we have been joined by our Ranking Member, the real 

Ranking Member, Ms. Vela ́zquez, although Ms. Clarke did a fine 

job filling in for her. 

So I recognize myself for 5 minutes. My first question, Mr. 

Prestemon, you had mentioned that one of the loan programs that 

you deal with in your capacity is the 504 Loan Program. And, you 

know, we hear a lot about the 7(a) Loan Programs; the 504, not 

quite as known by the public. 

And I know that—we have Hamilton County Development Corporation back in my area in Cincinnati, Ohio, and they do use that 

program a lot. Could you kind of tell folks who may not be familiar 

with it how it works and how businesses can take advantage of it. 

Mr. PRESTEMON. Sure. The 504 Program is a long-term, fixedrate, fixed-asset program, so, you know, typically, 20-year amortization, and it is always done in partnership with a bank. So, basically, the bank lends at the end of the process 50 percent of the 

proceeds, and we come in as the agents for the SBA to underwrite 

the other 40 percent and then the borrower would typically have 

a 10-percent equity. 

Chairman CHABOT. Okay. And in general, how would a small 

business qualify for that program or try to take advantage of it? 

Mr. PRESTEMON. Yeah. Well, they need to be—first of all, they 

need to have a reasonable cash flow, so they need—it is underwritten to standards very similar to what any bank would underwrite it to, so they have to be able to show they can cover debt 

service. And they have to be financing a fixed asset, so land, building, machinery, and equipment. But there is—virtually any kind of 

business can be financed through it as long as it has a fixed asset 

that would be financed. 

Chairman CHABOT. Okay. Thank you very much. 

Mr. Miller, I will turn to you next. You had mentioned in your 

testimony—I thought it was interesting; you mentioned in particular a program. I think your Governor in your state, you had 

gotten rid of a bunch of regulations which, you know, no longer 

really made any sense. How important is it for us at the federal 

level and also for local communities to get rid of regulations that 

really don’t have any real purpose anymore? 

Mr. MILLER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

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13 

I recognize that sometimes when we talk about regulatory reform, that can be viewed as a political issue or even a partisan 

issue, but I don’t believe it needs to be. And the reason I shared 

the story that I did about the not being able to email or fax, I 

think, is a good illustration of the many regulations, at least in 

Utah, that we found were on the books. No one had ever gone back 

and looked at it again, you know. Of course, a law that was written 

in 1973 wouldn’t talk about email, wouldn’t even talk about fax, 

and certainly wouldn’t talk about online. 

But we like to say in Utah that regulations are like weeds in the 

ditch. They just build up, and they impede the flow of commerce, 

unless you go back on a regular basis and look at what has been 

outdated, look at what doesn’t make sense anymore, and look at 

what needs to be updated, and certainly, when we talk to small 

businesses in Utah, what they tell us—they were grateful for the 

regulatory reform on the State level, by the way—but what they 

tell us would not surprise you, which is that regulatory review 

needs to happen on a Federal level as well. 

Chairman CHABOT. Thank you very much. 

Ms. Wagner, I will turn to you next. How do you market your 

community, like Loudoun County and the area, to prospective businesses in the areas—well, when it comes to such criteria as anticipated operating costs, operating conditions, quality of life, those 

types of things, how do you—you know, how do you go about marketing those when you are trying to get folks—attract people to 

your community? 

Ms. WAGNER. Sure. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the question. 

In Loudoun County, we have a team of over 20 members that 

represent different industry sectors, those from agriculture, aviation, transportation, cybersecurity, health information, and those 

individuals go out and identify opportunities in conjunction with 

our marketing team and strategic initiatives team, companies from 

across the globe really to identify companies that might be looking 

at new office space, expansion, and making sure that we have solutions to their problems or identify opportunities that fit that particular industry cluster. 

Chairman CHABOT. Okay. Thank you very much. 

And, Mr. Bishop, I will turn to you with the remaining time that 

I have. You are from New York City, and I represent the city of 

Cincinnati, most of it, as well as the surrounding area. Are there 

advantages and disadvantages that urban areas like your community in New York has, say, compared to the State of Utah or the 

State of Mississippi when it comes to marketing and arguing, you 

know, the good things you have versus the challenges? What are 

kind of the advantages or disadvantages that you like to key in on 

when you are talking about an urban area like New York? 

Mr. BISHOP. Yeah. So thank you for the question, Mr. Chair. So 

I think New York has—one of the advantages, of course, we are a 

global city. And certainly there is a diversity of a consumer base 

for a small business. There is certainly a number of resources that 

small businesses can tap into, not only in a local level but on the 

federal level in terms of actually helping grow their business. 

I think that also leads to the disadvantage in the fact that there 

is a lot of price pressures, and we may not be as forgiven in terms 

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14 

of, if you do not have a solid plan or you are not sure of how to 

actually grow your business, you know, in an urban area, where 

you may be able to—you may not be able to recover as quickly if 

you are in a rural area, for example. There is a lot more competition. 

So what we do is we really try to make sure that small business 

owners are equipped with the necessary tools, not only to help 

them plan out their business but grow their business, but also we 

provide a lot more resources for some of the things that business 

owners may not know what they need to know. 

Chairman CHABOT. Thank you very much. My time has expired. 

The Ranking Member, Ms. Vela ́zquez, is recognized for 5 minutes. 

Ms. VELA ́ ZQUEZ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

And, Mr. Bishop, thank you for sharing—being able to come here 

today and share your insights as to—— 

Mr. BISHOP. Thank you. 

Ms. VELA ́ ZQUEZ.—how can we improve small businesses opportunities. 

I would like for you to talk to us about your agency’s initiatives 

that is undertaken to help immigrants succeed, and what are the 

economic benefits in doing so? 

Mr. BISHOP. So, as I mentioned in my testimony, New York 

City is an immigrant-rich city, and certainly, when you look at our 

230,000 small businesses the assumption is that the larger businesses are actually the economic drivers of the city in terms of the 

workforce, but it is actually our small businesses. 

Our small businesses employ over 3.9 million New Yorkers, and 

over 52 percent of those small businesses are owned by a foreignborn New Yorker. So it is essential for us to connect with immigrant communities. It is essential for us to provide resources to immigrant communities. 

So we actually have worked not only in developing programs; we 

have worked with the private sector as well in terms of funding 

some of these programs. So we work with local organizations to tap 

into some of those communities, to connect to our resources because, most likely, entrepreneurship is something that immigrants 

would veer to, and certainly, if they are creating businesses, then 

they are creating jobs within the community. So that is important 

to New York City. 

Ms. VELA ́ ZQUEZ. Thank you. 

One of my top priorities in this Committee as the Ranking Member is helping the traditionally underserved communities access 

capital. What can you share with us in the federal government that 

you are doing in New York to help women and minority communities access capital. 

Mr. BISHOP. Right. So thank you again for that question. One 

of the things that we are doing—particularly when we did our outreach to women entrepreneurs, we found out that women entrepreneurs face other barriers than their male counterparts—so we 

built out a program called WE NYC specifically for women entrepreneurs that not only covers access to capital. We have teamed up 

with an organization called Kiva where the city is now putting in 

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the first 10 percent of their loan request. That is up to $10,000. We 

also are putting together resources for women entrepreneurs to 

connect with other successful women entrepreneurs. Mentorship is 

one of the biggest things that we found that women entrepreneurs 

were looking for. Access to capital was the other. And then some 

of my colleagues have talked about in terms of recruiting and finding the right workers. 

In terms of helping minority business owners, the city of New 

York is using its purchasing power. We spend anywhere between 

$12 billion and $13 billion a year to run the city, and we want to 

make sure that a percentage of that actually connects to small 

business, especially minority and women-owned businesses. 

But access to capital is an issue for minority entrepreneurs. So 

we actually created a $10 million fund where we—business owners 

can borrow up to $.5 million if they have a city contract. So that 

helps that business not only mobilize on the contract but build 

their credit to then become a bank-worthy customer. 

Ms. VELA ́ ZQUEZ. Thank you. 

Mr. Prestemon, the gender wage gap is an issue across the country. It is my understanding that, in St. Charles County, men earn 

an average of 1.4 times more than women. Are there ways your organization can incentivize businesses to close that gap? 

Mr. PRESTEMON. Oh, boy. I am not familiar with that statistic 

specifically. I can tell you that I am not—I would say that about 

40 percent of the entrepreneurs that we work with are womenowned businesses. So women are certainly active participants in 

the ecosystem, the entrepreneurship ecosystem of St. Charles 

County as well as in the St. Louis area. 

But I think, you know, the wage gap, it is kind of above my pay 

grade in terms of—— 

Ms. VELA ́ ZQUEZ. Sure. 

Mr. PRESTEMON.—our ability. We don’t have a policy-setting 

role. 

Ms. VELA ́ ZQUEZ. Okay. So I am going to give you an easy one. 

Mr. PRESTEMON. Thank you. 

Ms. VELA ́ ZQUEZ. So the United States is losing manufacturing 

jobs to outsourcing every day. However, St. Charles County’s top 

employer is the manufacturing sector—— 

Mr. PRESTEMON. Right. 

Ms. VELA ́ ZQUEZ.—accounting for 26,000 jobs. What can the 

federal government and other municipalities learn from your ability to attract manufacturing jobs? 

Mr. PRESTEMON. Well, although I was—I can’t take credit for 

it from the EDC standpoint, I think that we have a vibrant workforce and a workforce development system that is working well. So 

our community college has been actively engaged with training and 

retraining workers. 

We were very fortunate that General Motors, even in the aftermath of the downturn in 2007 and 2008, ended up expanding in 

St. Charles County, and that has driven a good portion of those 

jobs based in St. Charles County. Manufacturing is a big targeted 

sector for sure, and we are seeing successes all around us. 

Ms. VELA ́ ZQUEZ. Thank you. 

I yield back. 

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Chairman CHABOT. The gentlelady yields back. 

The gentleman from Utah, Mr. Curtis, is recognized for 5 minutes. 

Mr. CURTIS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and the Ranking Member. It is a delight for me to be here. 

I am grateful for all four witnesses, but I will give you some bias 

that, Mr. Derek Miller from Utah, particularly pleased to be here 

with you. Thanks to all of you for making this trip, and, Derek, 

thanks for coming. 

I don’t think it would be—hopefully, Mr. Chairman, it wouldn’t 

be out of line if I gave a shout-out to Mr. Miller’s family who has 

accompanied him on this trip and is here with us today. Thank you 

for joining us. 

Mr. Miller, you have served as a CEO for the Salt Lake Chamber. You are serving now in that role. You have served as a CEO 

for the World Trade Center. You were the Chief of Staff to the Governor of our State. You have spent some time back here. Thank you 

for bringing all those qualifications with you today to answer some 

of these questions. 

It makes me really proud to come from Utah where we are doing 

so many things right, but we need to continue to improve, especially for our small businesses. We are really proud of the work we 

have done with deregulation. Could you speak to how important it 

is that we don’t overregulate particularly our small businesses, 

and, in addition, what else can we be doing here in Washington for 

our small businesses? 

Mr. MILLER. Thank you, Mr. Curtis. It is great to be here with 

you and the other members of the Committee. And I shared the 

story about the email already, and I think there may be some who 

would think, you know, come on, that is a small thing, you know, 

being able to email a business license instead of having to send it 

by U.S. Postal Service. And it is true. It is a small thing. 

But I guess the point that I want to make is that small things 

matter a lot to small businesses. Small businesses bear a disproportionate share of the burden when it comes to regulations because often they are either a family-owned business or a sole proprietor. They don’t have resources. They don’t have time to hire an 

army of lawyers to go out and study this stuff. They don’t have the 

resources or the time to have compliance officers in their business. 

They are just working hard every single day to try to be a successful business, live the American Dream for themselves and their 

family. 

And so you asked the question, what could the federal government do? I think it would be a great place to start by doing what 

we did in Utah, which is to look at those regulations. It doesn’t 

have to be political. It doesn’t have to be partisan. But those that 

are just simply outdated, those small things add up to be a very 

large burden to our small businesses. 

Mr. CURTIS. I appreciate you pointing that out. Sometimes we 

think, well, they can just send that off to another department to 

have it done, right, and that is usually—— 

Mr. MILLER. And they are the other department. 

Mr. CURTIS. They are the other department. 

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We are experiencing an unusual economy in Utah and have for 

a number of years. Your unemployment in the Salt Lake Valley is 

3 percent or maybe slightly less than 3 percent and in Utah County. A lot of my district is rural, and in some places, we are in double-digit unemployment. 

Can you address your thoughts on what can we do and how can 

we team with you and local leaders to help the rural economy and 

the rural small business owners. 

Mr. MILLER. Sure. Thank you for that question. 

So, when we went out on our 25K Jobs Tour, we discovered a 

couple of things. The first one is we have some parts of our state 

where the greatest challenge for the business is finding qualified 

workforce. That is their number one top challenge. 

Yet we go out to some of the rural counties in our state, and 

their greatest challenge is finding jobs. Okay, well, you know, I 

don’t claim to be a genius, but I can at least add two and two. And 

when you do put two and two together what you realize is that 

there are opportunities, especially in today’s economy with so many 

of the tech businesses that you represent in your district, Congressman, who they have jobs that don’t need to be located at headquarters, whatever headquarters means. 

There is an opportunity to take those jobs, either by telecommuting or other technology, so that we are leading an effort right 

now that is part of Governor Herbert’s 25,000 jobs goal to challenge 

our businesses that are part of the Salt Lake Chamber, challenge 

them to do a thorough review of the jobs that they currently have 

unfilled to identify which of those jobs don’t need to be located 

along the Wasatch Front or our urban core, and then we will help 

them connect with the local Chambers of Commerce and work with 

them to match the unfilled job with the person in those rural communities who is looking for a job. 

Mr. CURTIS. I hope you will consider me and my colleagues 

partners in this, whether it is nothing more than the bully pulpit 

or facilitating or work that we can actually do here, but I definitely 

want to be a partner in that goal. It is a great goal. 

Lastly, you described in your testimony that trade is not hurting 

Utah but actually helping. Could you elaborate on that and talk 

about why and how that is so important in the State of Utah? 

Mr. MILLER. Sure. Utah, as I mentioned, is a trade State. If we 

were only selling to our 3 million citizens, we would not be seeing 

the economic success that we are. Nevertheless, we recognize that 

free trade is good, but it has to be fair trade. So we believe that, 

and we believe that Congress also ought to assert its role in making sure that, for example, NAFTA is modernized. If we are going 

to pull out of other trade agreements, like the TPP or the TTIP, 

then let’s put something in its place. 

Our small businesses need rules-based trading. Again, they don’t 

have the opportunity to go out and make those deals on their own. 

They look to the U.S. Government. They look to you, Members of 

Congress, to go establish their rules for them that will give them 

the predictability and the stability they will need to continue to be 

successful. 

Mr. CURTIS. Thank you. 

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I am out of time, Mr. Chairman, but I would love just to underline that predictability that they are looking for that we need to 

give them. Thank you very much. 

Chairman CHABOT. Thank you very much. The gentleman’s 

time has expired. 

And we are going to go briefly into a second round. We had votes, 

as you know, that interrupted this, and unfortunately, many of our 

members had other things they then had to go to. We usually don’t 

have votes in the morning that interrupt us, but we had a lot of 

business this week that we had to take care of—still do—so I apologize for that. 

So I just have one question that I will throw out, and anyone 

who would like to take it can, or if you want to go down the line, 

we can do that too. The question is this: Many communities use geographic targeted economic development programs to create jobs 

and attract investment. 

What role do small businesses play in neighborhood revitalization plans, and have you ever—are there any socioeconomic returns 

that you have observed over the years in this area? So whoever 

wants to tackle that is—you are welcome. 

Ms. Wagner. 

Ms. WAGNER. Sure. When we talk about geographic targeted 

plans, one of the opportunities we take advantage of in Loudoun 

County is we do have a designated HUBZone program. And we 

work very hard to foster our government contractors that are in 

that sector that are small businesses by providing resources 

through our Small Business Development Center, partnered with 

George Mason University’s Procurement Technical Assistance Program, as well as with our Loudoun Chamber’s Government Contracting Initiative because helping those HUBZone companies, they 

are hiring within the HUBZone, which is historically an underutilized business district, for those not familiar with that, and we are 

creating jobs in that community by supporting the entrepreneurs 

in our HUBZone in Leesburg, Virginia. 

Chairman CHABOT. Very good. Thank you very much. 

Any of the other panel members like to address that? Mr. Miller. 

Mr. MILLER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

You are probably thinking I haven’t bragged on Utah enough. So 

I will just take another moment. We have great geographic assets 

from our Rocky Mountains in the northern part of the state to our 

Red Rock in the south, and we use that to our advantage in a couple of ways: The first one, of course, is the quality of life that it 

presents there. 

And when I talked earlier about the need that we have for talented workforce, you can believe that we use that quality of life to 

market the heck out of Utah and attract talent from all around the 

world to come and work in our businesses. 

We are the fastest growing state in the nation, and most people 

think that comes from a high birthrate, but that is only half the 

story. That is something we do in Utah very well, by the way, is 

have families. But half of our population growth comes from net inmigration, people moving into Utah. 

And the second way that we use that is in the economic clusters 

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vantage, and one of those is our outdoor recreation industry. So we 

have not just the talented workforce to build all of the equipment 

that can be used to recreate outdoors, but we also have the playground to go out and test the equipment. 

Chairman CHABOT. Very good. Thank you very much. 

Any of the others? Yes, Mr. Bishop. 

Mr. BISHOP. So one of the things—I can’t let the gentleman 

from Utah show up New York State, New York City. But one of 

the things you will hear consistently is that, you know, small businesses are essential to the success of all our communities. 

Certainly, in New York, we focus—because, you know, in Brooklyn alone, we have 3.2 million people—the city as a whole has 8.9— 

we have to make sure that small businesses understand some of 

the neighborhoods that they are operating in because they are just 

unique and distinct. 

We do have industrial business zones because we want to focus 

on maintaining the manufacturing businesses that are in New 

York City. So the businesses within those areas also have special 

services and incentives to remain in those areas to provide the 

much-needed jobs. 

And we really work to integrate the work that is happening in 

those manufacturing, because manufacturing is changing—the type 

of manufacturing is changing to make sure that we—our educational system actually keeps up with that. So there is a lot of 

connectivity between not only small businesses and the different 

neighborhoods of New York City but also our academic institutions 

to make sure, as you have heard all of us say, that our workforce 

is prepared for the future of tomorrow. 

Chairman CHABOT. Thank you very much. 

Mr. Prestemon, anything you want to add? 

Mr. PRESTEMON. I would just add the—I think even in a place 

like St. Charles County that is, you know, very, very prosperous, 

there are areas of the county that are not doing as well. And, you 

know, I think that the illustration that I made with this Good 

News Brewing company was that, first of all, there was indeed a 

market but that it had to be discovered. It wouldn’t have been obvious. So I think, you know, increasing the sophistication of the entrepreneur in and of itself is a good thing. 

And then—and there is a synergy that takes place once investments start. You know, disinvestment cycles are tough to reverse, 

and that is—but they, you know, require, I would say, coordinated 

public investment in roads and that kind of thing. But also you 

have to find that entrepreneur that has that fire in his or her belly 

and just won’t be denied, and that is what we found in this case, 

so—— 

Chairman CHABOT. Thank you very much. I have got 10 seconds left. So I would just mention that you had mentioned microbreweries and how successful. 

Mr. PRESTEMON. Yeah. 

Chairman CHABOT. We have had a slew of them in Cincinnati 

that are doing very well—— 

Mr. PRESTEMON. Oh, yeah. 

Chairman CHABOT.—and so it is a phenomenon this happened 

all over the country. America like its beer apparently. 

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Mr. PRESTEMON. Apparently, yeah. And coffee. 

Chairman CHABOT. Yeah. Coffee as well. That is right. 

And the gentleman from Utah is recognized for 5 minutes, and 

it will be our last questioner here today. 

Mr. CURTIS. Thank you. Not that we are tag teaming on how 

great Utah is, but we don’t do a lot of beer and coffee, but we have 

got great ice cream. You know, I was a small business owner before, and I can’t tell you how many times I said to myself and my 

partners, why don’t they get this in Washington, right? 

So I would like to give all four of you a moment to say what is 

it that you would like to express that you talk about around the 

coffee and saying, ‘‘I wish in Washington they got this one thing,’’ 

in New York, in Virginia, in Missouri, in Utah. Is there something 

that you would like me and my colleagues to hear? And let’s start 

with Mr. Miller from Utah. 

Mr. MILLER. Thank you, Mr. Curtis. 

So we have talked about regulatory reform, and we have talked 

about trade deals. Let me hit what I think is the other—the big 

three, and that is immigration reform. That is a hot topic in Washington, D.C., right now. It is important to Utah. As you know, as 

someone who owned a business in Utah, we need those qualified 

workers. We need them to be part of not just our agricultural businesses, but we need them to be part of our tech businesses, our 

manufacturing businesses, all up and down the line. 

Utah was a state, as you know, that was founded by refugees, 

religious refugees, who at the time they got there were outside of 

the United States, had been driven out. And so we are a state that 

is very sensitive to that topic, not just from a business issue but 

from a cultural and a moral issue as well. And so immigration reform would be so critical to keeping the good thing that we have 

going in Utah going. 

Mr. CURTIS. That is also very timely. 

Mr. Prestemon. 

Mr. PRESTEMON. My observation would be, one-size-fits-all regulation that applies equally to a company of 5,000 employees to a 

company with 5 is a recipe for big problems. I hear far more about 

navigating regulatory burdens than I do about high taxes. Not that 

there is not a need for, you know, continued attention to tax—tax 

burden, but I think regulatory burden is the main thing. 

And I can only imagine the difficulty of crafting rules that work 

in that environment, but that is a persistent complaint that you 

will hear about. You know, it is pretty much to your point, if you 

are a really small business, you can’t just hand this over to the regulatory division either. You know, you are that too. 

Mr. CURTIS. I am often out among businesses, and I say: Well, 

how did you like tax reform? And they say: Well, it was nice, but 

what has really helped is deregulation. 

Mr. PRESTEMON. Yeah. That would be what I have heard too. 

Mr. CURTIS. Ms. Wagner. 

Ms. WAGNER. For the clients I serve, which are a lot of technology startups, the biggest challenge they have overcoming is the 

attraction of tech talent and the availability of that. So investment 

in our technology workforce, both in uptraining and upscaling the 

current workforce as well as investing in our next generation of 

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technology employment is probably the biggest concern facing 

many of my clients today. 

Mr. CURTIS. Thank you. 

Mr. Bishop. 

Mr. BISHOP. So I am going to cheat a little bit and say that I 

have two things. 

Mr. CURTIS. I would love to hear both. 

Mr. BISHOP. Certainly, you have heard it from Mr. Miller, the 

importance of immigrant and immigration. And, you know, New 

York City, as I said, is powered by immigrant entrepreneurs, and 

certainly, we want to make sure that we create opportunities for 

immigrants to create businesses because those businesses will hire 

within their communities. And I want to stress that. It is so important. It is important to New York City’s economy. 

The other part, the other thing that I said that I wanted to make 

sure that you understand is that the success of American businesses is dependent on our workforce. And we have to make sure 

that our workforce is prepared for the technologies of tomorrow. 

And in certain areas, they are not. 

And certainly, we have to make sure we have made investments 

in New York City to ensure either through apprenticeship programs or working with industry to identify and project in the next 

3 to 5 years what are the skill sets that those companies need in 

order to grow, because if they are not going to—if we as a country 

can’t provide the workforce, then they are going to go to other 

countries that can, and certainly, we need to make sure that our 

education system provides the pipeline of the next engineers, the 

next computer programmers, et cetera. So that is very important 

for the success of our small businesses. 

Mr. CURTIS. Those were four great messages. We need to make 

sure our colleagues hear all four of those. Thank you very much for 

your time today, and I yield my time. 

Chairman CHABOT. Thank you very much. The gentleman 

yields back. 

And I spoke too soon because the gentleman from Florida, Mr. 

Lawson, who is the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on 

Health and Technology is recognized for 5 minutes. 

Mr. LAWSON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and welcome to the 

Committee. I am sorry I am late, but I was addressing a small 

business group from Florida who is up on Capitol Hill. And one of 

the things that I wanted to say is that there are more small businesses in this country than any other type of businesses. 

Yet a lot of the incentives that states and counties, countries 

offer are for larger companies to move into the cities and the towns 

to create jobs, and we hear that all the time. And we have the 

Chambers of Commerce that are going out and recruiting, and 

most of the time, they are not recruiting small businesses. They are 

always recruiting large firms. 

What incentives are available—and specifically, if you have already discussed them, I would hate to go back over—for small businesses to create jobs that States should consider? And that is extremely important. 

Even from the standpoint of having served in the legislature in 

Florida for a long time, 28 years, 18 years in the House, 10 years 

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22 

in the Senate, before coming here, the Governors and everybody 

come. When they come in the state, the first thing they do, their 

focus is on recruiting those businesses from Canada, every place 

else and say we are going to bring more jobs, but still the largest 

employers are small business. 

So what should we focus on to make sure that small businesses 

get the same kind of consideration? And that is a question for everyone on the Committee, wherever you want to start. 

Ms. WAGNER. Thank you for that question. 

I am going to start with a line we use a lot in Loudoun, that no 

amount of incentives make a bad location a good location. I am 

proud that Virginia does offer various programs to support our 

small businesses through Virginia Jobs Investment Program, which 

provides credits and opportunities for small businesses that are 

hiring employees and making small investments into their infrastructure. 

We also have the CIT GAP Funds Program, which is a state program that is a seed venture to help our technology-based businesses scale up quickly. It also helps them connect with future investors for subsequent fundraising rounds. And we do put a lot of 

effort in Virginia into helping technology firms better understand 

the grants available through the federal government, like SBIR 

and STTR funds that really is America’s seed fund. 

What I will say is I do feel that communities, when they are 

looking at investments or incentives for their small businesses, 

should really look at how they can maximize their current programs. If you can help your small business development centers, 

your chambers, those can have a greater reach and reach a greater 

amount of small businesses versus one or two companies that you 

can pour an incentive into. 

So, in Loudoun County, we support our Mason Enterprise Center 

Incubator and the Small Business Development Center so that they 

can reach—you know, this past year alone, they reached over 300 

businesses in their programs. And that is—we are seeing that 

trickle-down effect as those companies are remaining in the community, adding jobs, and growing, and then can hopefully qualify 

for some of those larger incentive programs down the line. Thank 

you. 

Mr. LAWSON. Okay. Mr. Miller. 

Mr. MILLER. Thank you, Mr. Lawson, for the question. And you 

are absolutely right when you talk about the importance of small 

businesses. I can tell you, in Utah, they represent over 99 percent 

of all of our businesses and the majority of the employees work for 

small businesses. 

In Utah—I happened to in a previous career run the incentive 

program for the state, and so I am very sensitive to the question 

and the issue that you have raised. In Utah, we created what we 

call the BEAR Program, the Business Expansion and Retention 

Program, specifically designed for and targeted to small businesses. 

However, at the time I was working for the state, our largest incentive program, we refer to it as the EDTIF, for Economic Development Tax Increment Financing Program—with that long name 

you can understand why it goes by its acronym—that program was 

only to recruit new business in the State of Utah. 

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23 

When our current Governor was elected, he asked the very important question: Why? Why is that program not available either 

for existing businesses or for businesses of any size? And so that 

program was modified, and I am pleased to be able to tell you that 

today more than half of all of the companies that receive incentives 

do fit in those existing small business categories. 

Mr. LAWSON. Okay. Mr. Prestemon. 

Mr. PRESTEMON. Oh. Well, I—actually, I do agree with you 

about the focus being on really, really big projects typically on economic development programs. We have not gone that direction in 

St. Charles County. But I have four Cs that we work off of. You 

know, this is my little slogan here: Counsel, so at a council meeting, you know, technical assistance, that is important to the companies; capital, which is, you know, through both publicly sponsored 

as well as other programs; I would say connection, which refers 

back to things like the procurement technical assistance centers 

and programs that help, again, upgrade the connection today that 

small companies have to compete for large contracts; and then my 

final one is community. That is probably the softest one of the four, 

but I think it is not to be dismissed, in that entrepreneurs tend to 

make mistakes because they are in isolation. And so anything you 

can do to bring entrepreneurs together on a regular basis to guide 

and advise each other and support, I think that enhances the 

chances of their success. 

Mr. LAWSON. Mr. Chairman, could I be granted 30 more seconds? 

Chairman CHABOT. Yes, indeed. 

Mr. LAWSON. Mr. Bishop, I understand you are a Rattler? 

Mr. BISHOP. I sure am. 

Mr. LAWSON. Would you care to comment on that? 

Mr. BISHOP. Of being the Rattler or—the best experience ever. 

Mr. LAWSON. Yeah. 

Mr. BISHOP. But I think it is important, and we are in line, as 

you probably heard from the rest of the panel. At—in New York, 

we actually have—our agency, Department of Small Business Services, was created to focus on small business services. We are actually not—we have another agency called Economic Development 

Corporation, so we actually have the two separate, because we 

know that we need to provide additional resources of small businesses. 

So, when a small business, when we are interacting with a small 

business, we connect them to a host of services, not only from education but the incentives that we have for small businesses. So, for 

example, energy cost savings, we have customized training grants 

to help those small businesses train their employees. So we actually created a separate and distinct agency focused on retaining 

and helping small businesses, so—— 

Mr. LAWSON. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back. 

Chairman CHABOT. Thank you very much. The gentleman 

yields back. 

And we want to thank our distinguished panel here both this 

morning and this afternoon. Sorry about the votes falling in between here and any inconvenience there, but for your excellent testimony. We rely on local experts like yourselves and your innovaSBR002 with DISTILLER

24 

tive strategies that you have put in place to better understand the 

needs of small businesses. 

And we are seeing success stories, I think, all over the country. 

And it is improving not only local economies but people’s lives, and 

we want to thank you for being an important part of that and explaining to us how what we do here can help you to help people 

all over the country. 

So I want to thank folks on both sides of the aisle for being here. 

I would ask unanimous consent that Members may have 5 legislative days to submit statements and supporting materials for the 

record. 

Without objection, so ordered. 

And if there is no further business to come before this Committee, we are adjourned. Thank you very much. 

[Whereupon, at 12:45 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.] 

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A P P E N D I X 

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Testimony before United State House of Representatives 

Small Business Committee 

June 20, 2018 

My name is Greg Prestemon and I am the Chief Executive Officer for the Economic Development Council 

of St. Charles County, Missouri. I represent a 30-m ember Board of Directors that is a true public private 

partnership, with ten members from local governments and 20 members from the business and nonprofit sectors. 

We have a simple mission: to help businesses and communities grow. From its inception in 1992, the 

EDC has always focused most of its resources on helping small businesses. We do this through two 

main flagship programs, both of which are part of the Small Business Administration. We are a 

certified development company, and thus we offer the 504 Loan Program to borrowers throughout the 

state of Missouri. We have a current portfolio of over 260 loans valued at approximately 115 million. 

We are also an important part of the Missouri Small Business Technology Development Center, or 

SBTDC. While our local impacts have been large, I think the statewide impact is stunning. From 2015 

to 2017 the statewide network of SBTDC centers helped businesses general over $1 billion in sales 

increases and over $1 billion in Procurement Awards. 

But enough about the numbers. I want to spend the rest of my time talking about what we think is the 

EDC way of helping small business. We have been successful, I believe, because we have been very 

intentional about some core principles. First, we believe that all small businesses are important. We 

think the mom and pop retailer or the auto repair shop is just as important as the information 

technology startup. So, our approach is not to target a particular type of business, but instead to help 

the entrepreneur that is in front of us. 

Second, we are striving for our programs to always be in alignment with each other. For example, 

whenever possible we try to have our 504 borrowers also be SBTDC clients. This only makes sense, as 

the 504 borrowers need to repay federally guaranteed loans. And, SBTDC clients, when they reach 

critical mass need a sound method of financing their growth. Unfortunately, I think that we are 

somewhat unique in our strategy to align these two programs. 

Third, we strive always to be responsive to what our communities need as we help the businesses grow 

through the 504 and SBTDC programs. What does this mean? A couple years ago, an entrepreneur 

came to our SBTDC counselor with a dream of opening up a microbrewery in a part of the county that 

would not be seen as trendy or chic. I work in a generally prosperous county, but the location that this 

entrepreneur had in mind would definitely not have been seen as a likely spot by most observers of the 

local market. However, the entrepreneur had a dream and our SBTDC counseling team was impressed. 

Today this business, Good News Brewing, is thriving. It is thriving in part because of the technical and 

human support that our SBTDC program provided. Lately, this same entrepreneur has received 

approval on a 504 loan to open a high-end coffee shop, again in a location that would be far from 

trendy. While the job impacts are not huge, the community impacts may be game-changing. 
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Finally, I want to talk about partnerships. It took a bunch of organizations working in partnership to 

make projects like Good News Brewing Company happen. Obviously, the United States Small Business 

Administration played a gigantic role. Also, the University of Missouri, the City of O'Fallon, the 

Economic Development Council each provided key pieces of assistance. No one participant had 

everything needed to make this happen. The entrepreneur had the vision and the energy. The SBA had 

the capital source. The SBTDC had the knowledge. At the end of the process, an entrepreneur is 

making money, providing jobs and tax revenues and a community is improved. Not a bad day's work for 

any of the parties involved. 

On behalf of the businesses and people of St. Charles County and the state of Missouri, I want to thank 

you for this opportunity. The programs that this committee oversees are important to real people and 

real businesses throughout the United States. I would be happy to answer any questions you may 

have. 
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Economic Development Report 

The St. Charles County economy has seen several significant economic development wins during 2017. 

Highlighted wins include: 

The recruitment of FusionS, a health care-focused startup, to OPO Startups, a coworking space 

partially funded and staffed by the EDC Business & Community Partners. FusionS selected OPO 

Startups as its headquarters after touring several locations throughout the country, and has 

grown from 7 founders to more than 55 employees in less than 9 months. 

The securing of $100,000 in additional funding for the expansion of the OPO Innovation District 

in the City of St. Charles. Since its founding the district has become home to more than 60 

technology companies with more than 300 highly skilled workers. 

The opening of a 1.1 million square foot logistics center in Wentzville, further strengthening the 

County's growing reputation as a hub for the logistics industry. 

• GCL Solar, a Chinese headquartered company, moved its R&D headquarters from California to 

St. Charles County, bringing more than forty hi-tech jobs to the County. 

These wins continue to make St. Charles County the strongest and fastest growing economy in the State 

of Missouri. With an unemployment rate of less than 3% and the state's highest median household 

income, the County economy continues to be a shining star for the St. Louis region, Missouri, and the 

entire Midwest. The strong economy and high quality of life have been consistently recognized by the 

local and national media. In 2017 Money magazine recognized two St. Charles County communities (St. 

Peters and O'Fallon) in the top 50 places in the country to live. Additionally, Entrepreneur magazine 

named the county one of the three best places in the country to move your business. 

The EDC Business and Community Partners continued investment in STEM education, entrepreneurship, 

and publicizing the county regionally and nationally has led to continued wins through the first 6 months 

of2018, with additional employers continuing to find St. Charles County the best place in Missouri and 

the Midwest to start or locate their business. 

Small Business Finance 

EDC Small Business Finance once again received the 2018 SBA #1 CDC in Eastern Missouri. Through the 

end of September 2017, the EDC submitted and the SBA approved 39 loans representing nearly 

$21,442,000 million in SBA financing in MO and IL for the current 504 fiscal year. 

In 2017 EDC Small Business Finance saw a significant increase as compared to the loan activity in 2016. 

In 2017 we provided 21 projects in the amount of $16,458,000. Total investment from these projects was 

$41,730,S34 and 761 jobs were created or retained. In 2016 we provided 23 projects in the amount of 

$15,415,000. Total investment from these projects was $31,880,405 and 375 jobs were created or 

retained. In 2015, we provided 15 projects in the amount of $9,656,000 in funded 504 loans. Total 

investment from these projects was $24,069,639 and 524 jobs were created or retained. 
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Seven business projects In St. Charles County used the EDC's 504 loan program in calendar year 2017. 

Local loan activity totaled $7,244,000, reflecting total investment of $18,942,992. Total local jobs created 

or retained was 143.5. . 

The local projects funded were located in St. Charles, St. Peters and Cottleville. They included Shannon 

Norman Law, LLC ($190,000), Culver's Muegge Road ($3,174,302), The White Hare, Inc. {$1,460,000), Ole 

Tyme Produce, Inc. ($10,510,190) McCauley Animal Clinic ($1,270,000) Provenance Soapworks, LLC 

($460,000) and Great Beginnings Daycare & Preschool ($1,878,500). 

One of the small businesses that received an award during this year's Small Business Week included 

Melissa Smith who received the "Smail Business Person ofthe Year". At the time of purchase, Smith and 

her six employees worked out of a 2,200-square-foot facility and generated annual revenue of $380,000. 

In her first year of ownership, revenue increased by 44 percent. With guidance from SBA's SCORE ond • 

$2.5 million SBA 504 loan, Smith grew the business to 31 employees who provide service from three 

locations and generate $3.9 million in revenue. Over the last eight years, Smith also has worked to give 

back to the community. She has traveled to Honduras to provide free dental care to hundreds of 

Hondurans who lived in mountain regions and lacked access to dental care. Back home in Missouri, she 

holds "Free Dental Days" for a pregnancy assistance center, low-income veterans and others in need. 

Several success stories that funded in 2017 are listed below: 

Ole Tyme Produce- For over 40 years the Daleo Family has been prm~ding the finest produce in the St 

Louis Region to customers that include restaurants, hospitals and schools. It all started with Joe Daleo, 

whose father, mother and uncle have all been involved in the produce operation. Today, Joe's daughter, 

Joan Daleo, President, runs the company. The company had been on Produce Row but with the 

companies continued growth, a new state-of-the-art facility was needed. With the help of the EDC and 

the 504 loan program, Ole Tyme Produce built a new 60,000+ office warehouse in StCharles off Elm 

Street enabling the company to continue to grow. The total project cost was $10.5 million and the 

company employs well over 60 employees. 

Bailey's Social Inc.- David Bailey received the "Small Business Person of the Year" award in 2016. 

David was approved for a 504loan with the EDC for his new event space in downtown St. louis. The 

new space hosts venues including wedding receptions, parties, etc. The space is able to accommodate 

up to 400 people. Total project cost was $2.0 million. He has grown his staff From 50 to 325 in the last 

four years and serves more than 500,000 customers each year. 

Boxes, Inc.- This company located in the City of St. Louis used the 5041oan program for a $5.2 million 

equipment loan. The new equipment replaced old outdated and inefficient equipment. The company 

designs, does contract packaging, graphics and laminate products. The company also does warehousing 

of boxes for companies that do not have the space for inventory. In addition to commercial and 

industrial companies, Boxes Inc. also sells to large box companies such as Lowe's, Walmart, Sam's, 

Walgreens, etc ... just to name a few. The company is expecting to create 22 jobs in the next two years. 
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McCauley Animal Hospital- Dr. McCauley used the 504 loan program to construct a new building in St. 

Peters for a total project amount of $1,270,000. He originally leased space (2,500 sq ft) and wanted to 

build his ideal vet clinic within a 5 mile radius. The new building is 4,471 sq ft on one acre of land In a 

prime location on Mid Rivers Mall Drive. The company is expecting to create 7.5 jobs and retain 8 jobs 

in the next 2 years for a total of 15.5 job opportunities. 

Car Craft Lemay Ferry- Jim Mason has been using the 504 loan program since 1997 , with this location 

in St. Louis County being his fourth 504 project. This transaction also included a separate 504 equipment 

loan. The Car Craft locations employ over 100+ people. 

In addition to the 504 Loan Program, the EDC offers Industrial Revenue Bonds. In 2017 two Bond 

Resolutions were approved for O'Fallon Retail Walk Community Improvement District Project in the 

amounts of $3,920,134 and $3,515,000. 

Incubating Small Companies 

Helping entrepreneurs and small business owners start new companies has been at the core of the EDC's 

services since our incubator facility opened on Mid Rivers Mall Drive in 1993. Our professional 

environment offers specialized resources, shared services, hands-on training and dally interaction with 

business peers and experts on staff. 

In 2017 the EDC incubator welcomed ten new tenants and also had ten companies graduate from the 

facility. Congratulations to these expanding incubator companies: KB Data, Clarus Communications, 

Generations Counseling, SourceOne, Aspire, 4 Site Digital, Dave's Guitar and American Band. Currently 

our 30 incubator companies' employ over 100 employees. 

Business Counseling 

The EDC of St. Charles County has many resources for entrepreneurs thinking about starting a new 

business or expanding a business to the next leveL 

Through our long-term partnership with the Missouri Small Business Development Center, over 620 

unique entrepreneurs asked the questions on how to start a business, find financing or how to grow their 

business. 

in 2017 we provided counseling to 167 entrepreneurs which resulted in 12 business startups and 

$4,555,200 in funding. 

Severa I of the success stories are listed below: 

Amanda and Megan Boccardi were Creve Coeur Pollee Officers who branched off in order to start their 

own Biological Remediation Services Company. They now own Blo One St. Charles which specializes in 

contract cleaning for anything that requires remediation due to any biological contamination. 
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Dan Tripp founded Good News Brewing Company in O'Fallon MO. As a resultofthe cooperation 

between the SBDC and EDC he was able to get a loan, and now has a successful brewing company. 

Ron Goodwin, a longtime bowling alley manager received assistance in putting together a loan package 

and business plan for the purpose of purchasing Frontier Lanes. He was able to secure funding and now 

operates his own bowling alley. 

In addition to the SBDC, entrepreneurs have access to SCORE business counselors that have had an office 

within our facility since 2004. 

Business Development 

Sever Industries; St. Peters, St. Charles County, Missouri 

Seyer Industries is a locally-owned aerospace and defense contractor that has required continued 

assistance from the EDC Business and Community Partners through our SBA 504 loan program since 

2012 for expansions and equipment. 

The EDC Business and Community Partners was contacted by McGuire Sponsel, a site selector company, 

on behalf of Seyer Industries. They were expanding again and this time their expansion was due to new 

contracts with a commercial airplane manufacturer located in the Southeast United States, Through 

data points, McGuire Sponsel identified four communities: two in Southeast United States, one in the 

Midwest as well as St. Charles County, Misseuri. 

The EDC Business and Community Partners moved quickly to respond to the request for information and 

to set a meeting with local and state officials to create an incentives package which included Chapter 

100, Missouri Works, St. Charles County support on infrastructure needs and Customized Training. 

Because of this current effort with Seyer Industries, St. Charles County wili benefit from a $16.5 million 

investment and an additional 85 quality full time positions for our residents. 

!Bloom; St. Peters, St. Charles Countv, Missouri 

In 2006, Jennifer Bonacorsi moved her once jewelry making hobby now turned into a business into the 

EDC Business and Community Partners Small Business Synergy Incubator. 

Throughout the past 11 years they have turned to the staff at the EOC Business and Community Partners 

when her business faltered and almost went bankrupt. It wasn't until January 2014, they began 

experiencing true growth in J-Bioom. 

In January 2017, they employed six full-time and 8 part-time employees, have over 700 representatives 

(now called "Designers") in 40 states, and they are on track to have a 70-30% increase of revenue in 

2016 over 2015 when they had tripled their revenues over 2013. 

They graduated from the EDC incubator in October 2016 and moved into a 11,700 square foot jewelry 

manufacturing facility in St. Peters. The EDC Business and Communily Partners was also able to help 

them secure Missouri Works as they continue to grow the number of full time employees in the 

company. 

According to Jennifer Bonacorsi, "We would not be where we are today without the EDC. We could not 

have made it through the downturn in the economy without their support and mentorship." 
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GCL Solar Materialsj St. Charles County, Missouri 

The EDC Business and Community Partners' Business Development team received a call from Jim 

Mallinak, Sr Director of Strategic Projects, for GCl Solar US In August2017. They had a small office in a 

netghboring county and were considering purchasing a building in St. Charles County to accommodate 

their growth in research and development. Their capital investment was going to be $12 million in 

equipment and once established they are going to move 40 jobs from Portland to St. Charles and add an 

additionallO jobs. 

They contacted the EDC Business and Community Partners because they were also considering the 

option of moving the operation to Portland. 

After evaluating their needs, we set a meeting among our regional partners and the company so that 

they could have all their questions asked and answered at one time. 

Because of this meeting, they received incentives for workforce and training from the State of Missouri, 

were informed on how to start the appeal process to reassessment of taxes on the building they are 

considering for purchase, and determined that the expansion of the building was within code and 

covenants of the Missouri Research Park where the building Is located. 

Although this is still an on-going project, GCL Solar Materials US is fina lizingthe purchase of the building 

which will be completed by December 2017 and St. Charles County will gain 80 high paying jobs. 

ACT Certified Work Ready Communities; St. Charles County, Missouri 

A 20-something year old father of two chlldren was working in a convenient store in St. Charles 

County. He and his wife were unable to pay bills and couldn't see another path. 

He learned about the Work Keys Assessment from a friend of an EDCBusiness and Community Partners' 

employee. It was explained how it could help him show local employers what applied skills he has since 

he did not have any formal higher education. After taking the assess111ent and earning an National 

Career Readiness Certificate, he visited the St. Charles County Career Center where they helped him 

build a resume and guided him towards open manufacturing positions. 

This father of two currently works for TRUE Manufacturing and the fami!y has an income that can pay 

their bills. TRUE Manufacturing has one less open position. 

As the United States continues to face a skilled workforce shortage, the EDC Business and Community 

Partners is pursuing this certification as a stop gap measure to match potentially qualified employees to 

the current 1000 unfilled manufacturing positions in St. Charles County. 
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-- ---EST. 

SALT==LAKE -11\87---

CHAMBER 

HEARING 

Wednesday June 20, 2018 

Committee on Small Business 

U.S. House of Representatives 

"Communities That Think Small and Win Big" 

Statement of Mr. Derek Miller 

President & CEO 

Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance 

Derek Miller is the president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance. The 

Chamber is the state's oldest business association that "stands as the voice of business." In this 

role, Derek leads the business community in advocating for Utah's continued economic 

prosperity. 

Derek also serves as the president and CEO of the World Trade Center Utah, an organization 

with the mission to, "Promote prosperity across the state by attracting investment and increasing 

exports." 

Previously, Derek served as Chief of Staff to Gov. Herbert, overseeing the governor's office and 

state operations. He also served as Managing Director of the Governor's Office of Economic 

Development for Gov. Huntsman. 

Recognizing his leadership, Gov. Herbert lauded Derek as, "an architect of economic opportunity 

and innovation," and "instrumental in transforming Utah into one of the most competitive and 

fastest growing economies in the country." 

Derek began his career in Washington, D.C. as a management consultant with Arthur Andersen 

and as legal counsel for a congressional committee in the U.S. House of Representatives. 

He is a graduate of the J. Reuben Clark Law School and holds a Master of Public Administration 

from the Romney Institute of Public Management at Brigham Young University. 

Derek and his wife, Laura, live in Salt Lake City with their three children. They enjoy spending 

time together exploring Utah's countless natural wonders. 

1 
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INTRODUCTION 

Chairman Chabot, Ranking Member Velazquez and members of the committee, thank you for 

the invitation to speak with you today about Utah's thriving small business ecosystem and 

overall business-friendly environment. 

Utah's economy is one of the best in the nation. Utah ranks number one in the U.S. for job 

growth, enjoys consistently low unemployment rates and a strong workforce. Utah receives top 

marks for both current economic strength and future economic outlook. I'm proud to say that 

small business is at the heart of this success. The U.S. Small Business Administration reports 

that Utah is home to over 277,000 small businesses making up 99.3% of Utah companies and 

57.3% of total employees in the state. 

You may be asking yourself, as a foreign diplomat from China asked me during a recent visit to 

Utah, "How did a state I've never heard of become the fastest growing economy in the United 

States of America?" I want to share with you what I shared with him: It certainly did not happen 

overnight and not by accident. 

In Utah, the government and the business community work collaboratively and intentionally to 

create a strong business environment and support our growing small business community. I 

want to describe four areas I believe have been fundamental to Utah's economic success. 

KEY FACTORS 

The first is a Strong and Educated Workforce. Any business will tell you that if they cannot 

find good people then nothing else matters. Utah's public education systems, both K-12 and 

higher education, have a strong partnership with our business community. This partnership 

provides a consistent dialogue between educators and business leaders to identify gaps in our 

workforce skills and then develop a plan to fill those needs. One way this collaboration is 

evident is through the "Talent Ready Utah" initiative, which includes technical training for 

students through high school so they graduate with not only a degree but with a high-wage, 

high-demand job. 

The second factor is Taxes and Regulation. Utah continues to benefit economically from our 

flat five percent personal and corporate tax rate, which is one of the lowest in the nation. low 

taxes are important to small business, but equally important is a stable tax rate. Utah small 

businesses have benefited from the predictability of the state's flat tax over nearly 20 years 

since the rate was established. 

Additionally, the Governor's office, state legislature and the Salt Lake Chamber are always 

looking at ways to evaluate and eliminate unnecessary regulations. Utah's regulatory system is 

modernized, balanced and transparent so businesses have the confidence they need to hire, 

invest and innovate. 

In 2011, the state conducted one of the most thorough regulation reviews in the nation. This 

process is now replicated statewide on an annual basis. The legislature recently passed a bill 

that requires a regulatory impact analysis on all pieces of legislation before passage. This was a 

bill championed by the Salt Lake Chamber based on input from our members. The focus of this 

review and reform is both the executive branch where rules are promulgated and the legislative 

branch where rulemaking authority is authorized. 

2 
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The experience that gave rise to regulatory reform in Utah was a small business owner who 

wondered aloud why he could not fax or email his license renewal to the state agency, instead 

of mailing it. This question spurred a review of the regulation and sure enough, the rule only 

allowed for mail; no email, no fax, and certainly no allowance for online renewal. A closer 

inspection of the rule showed it was written in 1973. 

Based on this experience, Utah's Governor Gary Herbert asked each member of his Cabinet to 

review every state rule and ask two simple questions: Does the rule impact business? And, 

what is the public purpose? The answer to the first question was 1,969 regulations that 

impacted business. And of those nearly 2,000 rules, almost 400 times there was no good 

answer to the second question. And so those rules were either modified or eliminated. 

Sending a license update by email may seem like a small thing, but thousands of small things 

are particularly burdensome to small business. Because small businesses do not have the 

time, or the workforce, or the money to track and comply or advocate for change to regulations 

that are outdated and needless, they bear a disproportionately high burden - a burden that often 

breaks the back of the business. 

The third factor is Incentives. lncentivizing business creation and sustainable growth is key to 

Utah's thriving small business ecosystem. There are several state programs that assist new and 

existing businesses. One example is the business expansion and retention (BEAR) grants for 

small businesses in rural parts of the state. The Utah Science, Technology and Research 

(USTAR) initiative specifically assists start-up and early stage tech companies like ENVE 

Composites, a small company that designs and manufactures carbon fiber bicycle wheels and 

components. In 2010, ENVE won a technology acceleration grant from USTAR that prevented 

10 jobs from leaving the state and put them on track to use their carbon fiber technology to 

innovate the bicycle industry. ENVE now sells their products around the world. 

The state also offers financial incentives for business relocation and expansion. This incentive 

program is built on three pillars that make it both effective and sustainable. Those pillars are 

that the business expansion must be competitive (Utah does not incentivize "water to run 

downhill"), the incentives must be post-performance (Utah does not give money up front and 

then cross our fingers hoping something comes out of it), and the incentive must be a tax rebate 

once the jobs have been hired and the corporate taxes have been paid. Most important to 

today's discussion, while previously these incentives were available only to new companies 

relocating to Utah, they are now available to businesses already in Utah in an effort to help them 

grow at home. 

The final area is International Trade. It may surprise you to learn how important trade is to 

small businesses in Utah. You may have read recent headlines that trade is killing the U.S. 

That is not the case in Utah. Trade is not killing Utah. In fact, Utah is killing it when it comes to 

trade. 

Utah is a trade surplus state to the tune of $4 billion annually and has doubled its exports over 

the past decade with a goal to double exports again over the next ten years. Utah is one of the 

fastest growing export economies in the country. This is tremendous on its own, but even more 

so when you consider that Utah is a state of only three million people, located "somewhere" in 

the middle of the Rocky Mountains and without a sea port. This is a credit to the over 3,500 

companies that export, nearly 85% of which are small businesses. 

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Let me share with you a story that illustrates why trade is so crucial to Utah's small businesses. 

Butcher's Bunches makes handcrafted, all natural fruit preserves in Cache Valley. This jam is 

sold not just in Utah but in Asia, the UK, France, Australia, Canada and Dubai. This family 

company began selling in a farmer's market in Park City. The tourists that visit Park City from 

around the world enjoyed the product so much they began asking Liz, the owner, how they 

could buy her jam when they returned home. Liz had never considered selling outside of Utah 

let alone outside of the U.S. but the encouragement from her customers gave her the 

confidence to seek help frorn mentors and today's sales in international markets makes up 10 

percent of her business and growing. 

CONCLUSION 

These are all ways I believe Utah is doing it right when it comes to supporting small business, 

but that doesn't mean these companies don't face challenges. In fact, in some rural areas of our 

state the economic story is very different than what I have just described. Eleven of Utah's rural 

counties have had zero or negative job growth since 2008, and these are areas where small 

businesses are almost exclusively driving the local economy. 

To address this "tale of two Utah's", Governor Herbert set a goal to create 25,000 jobs in 25 

rural counties by the year 2020. I was grateful to lead the 25K Jobs Tour last summer to kick off 

this goal. Over twenty business service providers, including many of the programs I have 

mentioned today, loaded a trailer and hit the road to visit the 25 rural counties and connect local 

business owners and job seekers with available tools, resources and business services. We 

saw a lot of beautiful Utah, put in a lot of miles, and met a lot of terrific small business owners. 

This is just the beginning of ways we as a statewide business organization and our partners in 

state government plan to assist small business in rural Utah to spur business and job growth in 

their communities. 

Based on my experience on the 25K Jobs Tour, I think the most important element of Utah's 

economic success is our people. Utah's small business owners whether in urban Salt Lake City 

or rural Scipio, epitomize the state's motto of "Industry." They are good, hard working people 

with a strong entrepreneurial spirit. Utah's pioneering heritage is alive and well across the state, 

from Grouse Creek to Montezuma Crick. Our state and local governments are partnering with 

the business community to support small business owners who work every day to keep the 

American Dream alive for themselves, their families, and their employees. 

Thank you again for the opportunity to share the secret to Utah's exceptional economic 

prosperity. I look forward to answering any questions you may have. 

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LOUDOUN 

VIRGINIA 

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 

Testimony of Vanessa Wagner 

Small Business and Entrepreneurship Manager 

Before The Committee on Small Business 

Communities That Think Small and Win Big 

Wednesday, June 20, 2018 

l would like to begin by thanking the Congressional Small Business Committee for inviting me to 

testify today, on behalf of Loudoun County Economic Development, to share my thoughts on 

utilizing a community's assets to support entrepreneurs. 

As the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Manager for loudoun County I am incredibly 

fortunate for the advantages we have to attract and grow business in Loudoun. I am also proud 

of the strategies used by our small business partners to leverage these to create a strong 

entrepreneurial ecosystem, particularly for technology firms. 

!n Loudoun County, VA I focus on supporting small businesses by growing the entrepreneurial 

ecosystem. In summary, my role is to ensure that entrepreneurs have the right mix of 

programs, places, and people to help them succeed. ! have an emphasis on technology~enab!ed 

business, but my work also helps to support our main street entrepreneurs. 

43777 Central Station Drive • Suite 300 • Ashburn, VA 20147 

Tel: 703-777·0426 • Fax: 703-771·5363 

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LOUDOUN 

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It is easy for stakeholders to get excited about the latest trend or buzzwords in 

entrepreneurship- coworking spaces, accelerators, venture funding. It ls tempting to jump at 

the opportunity to support these trends; however, I caution anyone charged with 

entrepreneurship, tO start by evaluating your existing resources. Building an ecosystem around 

your community's unique advantages will prove more sustainable and impactfu! than placing a 

trend in the middle of your city. 

When I began my role in loudoun I admlt1 that I was eager to hit all of the buzzwords. I invested 

a lot of time chasing pitch events for my county, connecting with every accelerator in town and 

supporting anyone that described their office as a co-working facility. What I !earned is that our 

county already had most of the things it needed to build an ecosystem. I learned that my role is 

not to bring every trend to Loudoun County. To be successful in my role, I must seek to identify 

our existing resources and put them to work for our entrepreneurs. 

43777 Central Station Drive· Suite 300 ·Ashburn, VA 20147 

Tel: 703-777-0426 ·Fax: 703-771-5363 

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Using Business to Build Business 

LOUDOUN 

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One of,the most important assets you have in building an entrepreneurial ecosystem is the 

businesses already there. The companies in your city provide the experience and talent to build 

the next generation of businesses. 

Identifying the resources created by the legacy businesses and growing firms can prove fruitful 

when outlining your entrepreneurial strategy. 

The Impact of legacy Businesses 

In Loudoun County and the region, one of the most lmpactful organizations remains America 

Online, AOL From 1994 through its growth into the 21st century AOL had a giant impact in our 

region. AOL not only developed the region's technology workforce, but also the spirit of 

innovation. When AOL moved its headquarters to New York from Dulles in 2007 its legacy 

continued to have an impact on our region. Not only did AOlleave a wake of tech talent behind 

for other employers, but many of their executives became founders, angel and institutional 

investors for the next generation. 

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Tel: 703·777·0426 ·Fax: 703·771·5363 

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Even after the presence of AOL in our region slowed down, the company continued to have a 

major impact on our startup scene. In 2012 to encourage creativity in its workplace AOL 

launched Fishbowl labs, an incubator housed inside of its Dulles location. Fishbowl labs 

startup-residents were able to use the facility, and available human resources, inside of AOL to 

add value to their startup. Today our region is benefiting from the results of these efforts with a 

new wave of startups tied to AOl Fishbowl Labs including MiiAdvisor, ThreatQuotient, 

ParkMyCioud, X-Mode Social and others. 

As the Entrepreneurship Manager in loudoun, I didn't seek to change what was working from 

this system. Rather, my role was to promote this opportunity by introducing the right startups 

for consideration. Thls could be as simple as an introduction to the Labs, or by sponsoring 

events to take place inside of the facility. All good things must come to an end, and when AOL 

was re-branded to Oath and Fishbowl restructured, I had a solid relationship with the 

companies inside of the incubator. These relationships helped me identify a location just a few 

doors down to help them continue growing in loudoun County under the support of another 

serial entrepreneur. When X Mode Social moved out of the Fishbowl Labs to Terminal 68, they 

were a team of 10. When I visited again a few short months later, the team was 40 strong and 

working on their new product line. 

43777 Central Station Drive· Suite 300 ·Ashburn, VA 20147 

Tel: 703-777-0426 ·Fax: 703-771-5363 

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All Ships Rise with the Tide 

LOUDOUN 

VIRGINIA 

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 

Relying only on the largest employers is providing a disservice to your entrepreneurs. 

Facilitating introductions and relationships to your growing companies and early-stage 

entrepreneurs should be included in your strategy. Loudoun's small business partners leverage 

growing firms such as Omnilert, Cofense, Telos, K2M, and others. The advantage to working 

with this new cohort of technology firms is that they can provide recent examples of challenges 

and solutions faced in building their business. Our growth firms are invested in the overall 

growth of our region to support their business. After all, all ships rise with the tide. 

A community can seek to find unique ways to promote these relationships and understand that 

each firm may find value in a different approach. One method used in Loudoun County is 

working with various committees and small business partners to encourage these relationships. 

One committee that has provided a natural fit for this is the Loudoun Chamber's Technology 

Coalition. The coalition seeks support through sponsorship and engagement of the sponsors1 

including Telos Corporation. Telos Corporation was recently recognized in the Top 5 

43777 Central Station Drive· Suite 300 ·Ashburn, VA 20147 

Tel: 703-777-0426 ·Fax: 703-771-5363 

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cybersecurity firms in the United States. The sponsorship provided by Telos not only provides 

the resources required for the Coalition to host meetings and events, but the Coalition's 

leadership works to engage Telos. 

Jn just this past week Telos graciously extended members of their executive team to address a 

room filled with early-stage technology firms meeting for the Technology Coalition. The 

executive leaders shared their morning to discuss trends in the cyber security industry and their 

personal views on the topic. More so, each Telos member stayed well past the allotted speaking 

engagement to answer questions, continue the discussion and exchange contact information. 

The results of this meeting may not be known yet, but I am confident that through last week's 

meeting and future engagements a trick!e~down effect will be observed by the success of our 

early~stage firms. 

43777 Central Station Drive· Suite 300 ·Ashburn, VA 20147 

Tel: 703-777-0426 ·Fax: 703-771-5363 

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In Conclusion 

LOUDOUN 

VIRGINIA 

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 

Entrepreneurship catalysts need not look much further than their region's existing businesses 

when seeking to identify strong assets for mentorship, experience, and support. 

My testimony focuses on examples related to technology-enabled firms; however,! could easily 

share how the practice of working with our communitls businesses has helped our rural 

economy, craft beverage industry, and many others. 

One size does not fit all for entrepreneurship. A community should be aware of outside 

opportunities to support their entrepreneurs; however, no ecosystem building should ignore 

the existing resources available within your business community. Identifying these assets, and 

creating forums to share their experience and resources should be a foundation of your overall 

strategy. 

43777 Central Station Drive • Suite 300 ·Ashburn, VA 20147 

Tel: 703-777·0426 ·Fax: 703-771·5363 

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Hearing Before the Small Business Committee 

United States House of Representatives 

"Communities That Think Small and Win Big" 

June 20, 2018 

Testimony of Commissioner Gregg Bishop 

New York City Department of Small Business Services 

Good morning Chairman Chabot, Ranking Member Velazquez and Members of the 

House Small Business Committee. My name is Gregg Bishop and I am the Commissioner of the 

New York City Department of Small Business Services (SBS). I thank you for this opportunity 

to testify before the Committee and share some of the great work and best practices that we are 

seeing in New York City. At SBS, we aim to unlock economic potential and create economic 

security for all New Yorkers by connecting them to quality jobs, building stronger businesses, 

and fostering thriving neighborhoods. Unlike other City agencies that work with businesses, we 

do not enforce regulations, but rather provide the necessary services to help them start, operate, 

and grow. We provide services to New York City's 230,000 businesses through our network of 

seven Business Solutions Centers. These services include helping minority and women-owned 

businesses to compete for government contracts, connecting entrepreneurs to free resources, and 

assisting business owners to navigate government regulations. 

At SBS, we know that small businesses are essential to the local economy and character 

of our neighborhoods. Small business ownership and entrepreneurship can help uplift 

generations of families while providing goods, services and quality jobs for local communities. 

Our small businesses serve their neighbors as well as visitors from around the world, making 

New York City one of the best cities in the country. Despite the fact that small businesses face 

challenges due to the unprecedented growth New York City has seen in recent years, our small 
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businesses continue to grow. Over the last ten years, the number of businesses in New York City 

has increased by I 0%, according to the U.S. Census County Business Patterns report. That is 

why I believe it is critical for municipalities to offer services and programs that help small 

businesses start and thrive. Cities that incorporate small businesses into their economic 

development strategy not only help small businesses grow but also provide their city with good 

jobs, vibrant neighborhoods and a better quality of life. 

As the City's advocate for small businesses, SBS is committed to ensuring that 

businesses can easily connect to our services--no matter where they are in our city. We 

understand that it's not always easy for business owners to come to us, so we are bringing our 

resources directly to their doorsteps. Through the Chamber On-the-Go initiative, trained business 

specialists canvass commercial corridors and directly connect business owners with essential 

services and information. SBS recently launched the Mobile Outreach Unit, an RV equipped to 

serve New Yorkers on-site in their neighborhoods. We also regularly host interagency events 

with multiple city regulatory agencies. This allows business owners to have their questions 

answered directly by regulatory staff. These interagency events have been held in communities 

across all five boroughs, reaching nearly 1,000 business owners. 

Many small businesses struggle to access credit. To make it easier on small businesses, 

SBS provides a free financing service through our business centers. At our centers, we match 

business owners with the right lender for their needs and walk them step-by-step through the 

loan process. We work regularly with more than 40 different lenders, the majority of which are 

Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) and other alternative financial 

institutions. CDF!s play a critical role in our efforts to provide financing to businesses that are 

not able to access traditional bank financing. Since the start of this administration, SBS has 

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connected approximately 1,800 businesses to $155 million in financing. We also invest in funds 

where we see market gaps. For example, for businesses contracting with the City, SBS offers the 

Contract Financing Loan Fund. This revolving fund offers low-interest loans of up to $500,000, 

capped at a 3% interest rate. These funds are designed to assist small businesses and minority 

and women-owned businesses (M/WBEs) working on City contracts. 

As we see businesses grow in NYC, the city has also implemented necessary regulations 

and worker protections. Regulations are important to ensure health and public safety, but they 

should be fair and not overly burdensome to small business owners. To support the continued 

growth of businesses, the City has committed to making the regulatory environment easier for 

small businesses while protecting residents and workers. In 2015, the Mayor launched Small 

Business First (SB 1 ), a major multi agency effort to provide clear information on regulations, 

help businesses understand and comply with City regulations, reduce the regulatory burden, and 

ensure equal access for business owners. We heard directly from hundreds of business owners 

and created 30 commitments to save businesses time and money. 

We have seen initial success in our efforts. In most cases, business owners want to 

operate in compliance, but may not be aware what is required of them. To make it easier, we 

built a state of the art NYC Business Portal to serve as a central repository of key business 

information and a single place for business interactions with the City. On the NYC Business 

Portal, a business owner can create an account and link their licenses, permits, inspections, and 

violations from City agencies onto one dashboard. In addition, business owners can receive alerts 

for renewal notices and new violations or complaints they receive; making it easier for them to 

stay in compliance. In 2017, there were more than one million visits to the NYC Business Portal. 

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There have also been more than 3,000 on-site consultations with our Compliance 

Advisors, individuals cross-trained on critical regulations, who help businesses avoid common 

violations. Business owners saved nearly $25 million dollars in avoided fines with the help of 

Compliance Advisors. We also expanded remote adjudication options, so business owners don't 

need to leave their business during operating hours in order to refute a violation or fine. For more 

than 700 additional violation categories, business owners can contest a violation via phone, video 

conference, online, or by mail. Ultimately, we hope to save business owners millions and 

decrease the time it takes them to conduct operations with the City. 

Another common challenge for small businesses is navigating shifts in the business 

environment. Many businesses struggle to adapt to changes such as evolving consumer 

behaviors, macroeconomic trends like the rise of e-commerce and shifting neighborhood 

demographics. Where changing demographics and development may prompt landlords to 

speculate or harass existing commercial tenants, SBS provides free legal services through our 

Commercial Lease Assistance Program. Businesses can work one-on-one with attorneys to 

review lease renewal terms, negotiate with their landlord, and even prepare court papers and 

motions when litigation cannot be avoided. SBS also helps long-standing companies adjust to 

neighborhood change through Love Your Local, a multi-phased approach which began with a 

marketing campaign to celebrate the city's independent small businesses and encourage New 

Yorkers to shop locally. Recently we launched the second phase of the program, $1.8 million in 

grant funding to help business owners address competitive pressures. Longstanding, nonfranchise small businesses from across the five boroughs can apply to receive up to $90,000 in 

grant awards and expert advice. Selected businesses will use grant awards to cover the costs of 

improvement projects determined by personal consultations from industry experts. 

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A key focus of our work is ensuring our programming is accessible to all New Yorkers, 

including women entrepreneurs. In 2015, SBS launched WE NYC, a major initiative to address 

the entrepreneurship gender gap, with a focus on underserved communities. On average, men 

own one and a halftimes more businesses than women and make on average tour and a half 

times more revenue. Through extensive research and engagement with more than I ,500 women 

entrepreneurs. we developed a series of programs to address the most common challenges 

women business owners face such as accessing capital, developing business skills, identifying 

networks and mentors, and finding comprehensive information to support their business. For 

example, we recently launched WE Fund: Crowd, a City-led crowd funding program that helps 

women entrepreneurs access affordable capital and start businesses. Through our partnership 

with micro lender Kiva, women entrepreneurs can apply for crowd funded loans of up to $1 0,000; 

with New York City contributing the first I 0% of their loan request. WE NYC has been a great 

success and other cities have taken notice; with Boston recently launching their own Women 

Entrepreneurs Boston program modeled on WE NYC. 

Growing up with my grandmother in Grenada, who supported our household as a woman 

entrepreneur, I came to understand first-hand that business ownership can empower a family and 

support greater economic opportunity for future generations. New York City has always been 

and will continue to be a city of immigrants. Approximately six out of every ten New Yorkers 

are either immigrants or children of immigrants and nearly half of New York City's small 

businesses are owned by immigrant entrepreneurs. Many immigrant New Yorkers face unique 

barriers and as an immigrant myself, I know it is critical for SBS to provide services that are 

inclusive of all communities. Supporting these diverse communities, who contribute so much to 

our economy, makes New York City stronger. 

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To that end, SBS created Building Your Business in New York City: A Guide for Immigrant 

Entrepreneurs available in seven languages that includes step-by-step advice on topics such as: 

signing a commercial lease, navigating government, and understanding the rights of immigrant 

New Yorkers. We have also expanded the availability of important business related materials in 

multiple languages. Through a previous program known as the Immigrant Business Initiative 

(IB!), we leveraged private investment to offer free business courses on topics such as credit, 

marketing, legal aid, and entrepreneurship in Spanish, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Russian, Korean, 

and Bengali. Through !Bl we have served over 1,500 immigrant businesses over a period of two 

years. We also partner with the NYC's public library systems to better reach entrepreneurs in 

immigrant communities across the five boroughs. 

New York City also offers innovative programs to help New Yorkers living in public 

housing gain entrepreneurial skills. Through the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) 

Food Business Pathways Program, residents receive free business training to start and grow food 

businesses in New York City. Participants receive an eight-week intensive business course 

tailored specifically for NYCHA residents. The program includes group and one-on-one business 

coaching and access to kitchen incubator space. Since launching in 2015, 143 graduates have 

launched incorporated businesses. We also offer a similar program to streamline the process of 

becoming a home-based childcare provider called Childcare Business Pathways Program. These 

programs are a proven path to entrepreneurship for those that have historically been neglected. 

Along with our support of all small businesses, SBS also plays a key role in New York 

City's Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprise ("M/WBE") program. Through the use 

of the City's purchasing power, the M/WBE program aims to support the growth of minority and 

women-owned businesses and ensure our vendors reflect the diversity of our city. At SBS we 

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provide essential capacity building services and technical assistance so businesses can compete 

for and execute government contracts. Our robust M/WBE program allows the city to have a 

stronger and more diverse pool of vendors that provide the best services at the lowest cost. 

The Mayor has also set aggressive goals for the program. He recently announced that the 

City is two years ahead of schedule to meet our goal to award $16 billion to M/WBEs by 2025. 

The City has awarded approximately $7.8 billion to M/WBEs since the goal was established in 

2015-$1.8 billion more than initial projections. This administration has made major 

investments into the M/WBE program and set ambitious goals for additional support, including 

certifying 9,000 M/WBEs by 2019. 

We also host a Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC), which is funded in 

part by the Depa1iment of Defense and administered by the Defense Logistics Agency. This 

program offers critical support to small businesses and aligns with our portfolio of programs that 

we offer to minority, women, veteran and service disabled veteran owned businesses that have 

historically not had access to government contracting opportunities. We believe that in order for 

a small business to gain and sustain growth, they must be prepared to take advantage of multiple 

revenue streams. By offering education on governrnent contracting with NYC, mentorship 

programs, and targeted workshops and training, we are providing businesses with the capacity to 

grow their businesses into the federal and state contracting arenas. Through our services, we are 

providing businesses with day-to-day operational support, along with the confidence to 

successfully navigate opportunities and challenges when performing on government contracts. 

In line with the Mayor's Career Pathways Strategic Plan, a roadmap to create a more 

inclusive workforce, SBS is responsible for helping New Yorkers find jobs by connecting 

jobseckers to employers and local residents to industry-informed training. Through our network 

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of twenty one federally funded Workforce! Career Centers, SBS provides recruitment expertise, 

industry knowledge, and skill-building workshops to match candidates to jobs. Annually, we 

successfully connect more than 25,000 New Yorkers with quality employment and nearly 4,000 

with the training needed to advance their careers. 

SBS invests in helping New Yorkers prepare, connect and advance in the key sectors that 

drive New York City's economy. The investments are informed by industry and designed to meet 

employer needs through our Industry Partnerships. The goal of these industry partnerships is not 

only to connect New Yorkers to employment, but also to build a long-term, sustainable 

connection between employers and the organizations that teach individuals the skills that are 

needed to enter and advance in the New York City job market. Through industry engagement, 

we are able to identify gaps in the labor market and develop new training models that can be 

replicated by providers throughout the city. We have expanded our industry partnerships in the 

Technology and Healthcare sectors and have launched partnerships in the Food Service, 

Construction, and Industrial/Manufacturing sectors. We are aiming to address the systemic 

issues which have prevented some New Yorkers from participating in the economy of tomorrow. 

The expertise of local, on-the-ground partners is essential to tackling the unique 

challenges faced by New York City's diverse neighborhoods and business communities. SBS 

oversees the largest network of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) in the country, with 75 

BIDs delivering more than $147 million in services to 93,000 businesses throughout the five 

boroughs. Not only does SBS provide technical assistance, grant opportunities, and capacity 

building services to BIDs, but this network also provides a direct connection between 

neighborhood small businesses and our agency. We are proud of the increase in development of 

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smaller BIDs and BIDs located in outer boroughs, giving business communities across the city 

an opportunity to raise their collective voice. 

SBS is committed to working with community partners to identify local commercial district 

needs and plan targeted solutions. One tool for gaining this understanding is through our 

Commercial District Needs Assessments, or CDNAs. Conducted in partnership with local 

community organizations, CDNAs identify the strengths, challenges, and opportunities within a 

commercial corridor. This too I provides valuable information about the needs of local business 

owners and gives community organizations a framework to plan investments aimed at 

strengthening neighborhoods and businesses. 

SBS also provides financial support to strengthen and revitalize commercial districts 

through our grant programs. With Neighborhood 360, community-based organizations in six 

neighborhoods were awarded approximately $8.5 million in funding over three years to develop 

and staff revitalization projects that address needs identified in the CDNAs. To further support 

small businesses and neighborhoods, SBS provides community-based organizations with 

capacity building services including workshops, legal assistance, design assistance, leadership 

development, and non-profit management coaching. To address additional staff capacity 

challenges, our Neighborhood 360° Fellows program pairs ten neighborhood development 

professionals with ten community-based organizations. The fellows are paid, full-time 

professionals, community organizers, or urban planners. The program provides organizations 

with dedicated support for commercial revitalization projects and builds a pipeline of talent in 

neighborhood development. 

As you can sec, New York City has made small businesses a priority and as a result we 

have seen them flourish. We hope municipalities from across the country use New York City as 

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a model and replicate our successes. By recognizing the strength of diversity in our city, and 

helping immigrant, women, black entrepreneurs and other entrepreneurs of color to grow 

thriving businesses and careers, we are ensuring every New Yorker has access to economic 

security while growing our city's economy. 

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Question for the Record 

Committee on Small Business 

Hearing: Communities That Think Small and Win Big 

June 20, 2018 

Congresswoman Adams Question to Mr. Greg Prestemon: 

1. Unfortunately, we know that minority-owned businesses are 

more likely to face obstacles, like difficulty accessing capital. According to a 2016 study, white owners were three times more likely 

to say their loans were always approved than were African-American owners. 

What policies could Congress implement to provide greater access to capital for these types of small businesses? 

Answer: 

Capital availability for small business is a daunting challenge in 

any environment, but it is particularly challenging for entrepreneurs from minority backgrounds. Uniform or ‘‘one size fits all’’ 

underwriting standards will often have the presumably unintended 

effect of excluding any borrowers operating in minority neighborhoods or for minority borrowers operating in predominantly white 

neighborhoods. Because my organization lacks experience in providing services in minority neighborhoods, I am at a disadvantage 

to provide guidance. On a general level, preserving and expanding 

the incentives for lending under the Community Reinvestment Act 

would likely be beneficial. Since much lending in distressed neighborhoods often is done through non-bank sources, this argues for 

strong regulatory approaches to fend off predatory lenders. 

Direct capital investment from micro-loan funds holds promise, 

although the administrative costs for operating such programs are 

high. Covering minimal staff and other expenses from program income is usually not possible. Perhaps an increase in grants for operating support for microlending organizations would be impactful. 

The organization that I lead has not engaged in microlending, primarily because we did not see a path to breaking even. 

In terms of programs like the 504, we would recommend consideration of relaxed approval standards for the 504 loan for minority 

borrowers. For example, in most instances the 504 program will require a 20% down payment/equity injection for startup businesses. 

Lowering that requirement for minority borrowers is worthy of consideration. 

Finally, the Small Business Development Center program is extremely beneficial to small businesses, irrespective of the ethnic 

background of the owner. This program is woefully underfunded on 

a national basis. Increased appropriations for the SBDC program 

should be considered, and there could easily be provisions within 

such appropriations legislation to target the increased support to 

SBDC’s with a track record of supporting minority entrepreneurs as 

well as other segments of the population that are at a market disSBR002 with DISTILLER

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advantage. Rural locations have high needs and relatively low resources, for example. 

Gregory D Prestemon 

Chief Executive Officer 

EDC of St. Charles County 

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Question for the Record 

Committee on Small Business 

Hearing: Communities That Think Small and Win Big 

June 20, 2018 

Congresswoman Adams Question to Mr. Derek Miller: 

1. Unfortunately, we know that minority-owned businesses are 

more likely to face obstacles, life difficulty accessing capital. According to a 2016 study, white owners were three times more likely 

to say their loans were always approved than were African-American owners. 

What policies could Congress implement to provide greater access to capital for these types of small businesses? 

Answer: 

In Utah, we recognize that access to capital is the lifeblood of all 

small businesses. At the Salt Lake Chamber, we run a program 

called the Women’s Business Center of Utah that supports women 

and minority owned businesses. The Center provides entrepreneurial 

training, networking opportunities and business consulting including assistance in accessing capital. These services are provided at 

no cost to the women and minority small business owners, which is 

possible because of federal grants available for this purpose. I encourage Congress to continue its support of these grants. 

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Question for the Record 

Committee on Small Business 

Hearing: Communities That Think Small and Win Big 

June 20, 2018 

Congresswoman Adams Question to Ms. Vanessa Wagner: 

1. Unfortunately, we know that minority-owned businesses are 

more likely to face obstacles, like difficulty accessing capital. According to a 2016 study, white owners were three times more likely 

to say their loans were always approved than were African-American owners. 

What policies could Congress implement to provide greater access to capital for these types of small businesses? 

Answer: 

This crucial question has been the subject of important research 

and reporting by a number of federal and nonprofit organizations. 

They all confirm that minority businesses are denied loans at a 

much higher rate than non-minority businesses. When minorities 

are able to secure loans, it’s at a much higher interest rate than 

rates secured by non-minorities. The Congressional Black Caucus 

Foundation has made these recommendations: ‘‘While there are laws 

prohibiting loan discrimination on the basis of face, regulatory 

agencies need to improve upon enforcing regulations at a national 

level ... the U.S. Department of Justice must ensure that these laws 

are enforced by streamlining oversight of banks and their lending 

practices ... The Government Accountability Office could also perform an investigation of whether or not the DOJ is effectively enforcing these regulations and how funds are being appropriated.’’ Improving access to capital for minority entrepreneurs will ultimately 

result in the creation of more jobs and prosperity for the nation as 

a whole. 

(FYI: This response is based on info on pages 3 and 4 of the attached document. This article gives related info: https:// 

newsonecom/3428232/barriers-to-financing-undermines-black-entrepreneurship/) 

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Questions for the Record 

Committee on Small Business 

Hearing: Communities That Think Small and Win Big 

June 20, 2018 

Congresswoman Adams Questions to Mr. Gregg Bishop: 

1. Minority-owned businesses are an integral part of my District’s economy. And a large source of these minority small business 

owners is Johnson C. Smith, a Historically Black University in 

Charlotte. In my state there are 10 Historically Black Colleges and 

Universities—the most in the nation—but there are more than 100 

Historically Black Colleges and Universities nationwide. 

In your view, how can local officials, Chambers of Commerce, and 

other local stakeholders work more closely with our nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities to create more small business owners? 

Answer: 

1. Importance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities 

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are vital 

institutions that produce highly skilled and ambitious graduates. 

As an alumnus of an HBCU, I understand the importance of connecting with these institutions to ensure young black men and 

women know the power of entrepreneurship to uplift themselves, 

their families, and their communities. In my time as Commissioner 

of New York City Department of Small Business Services, I have 

made it a priority to meet with alumni associations, fraternities 

and sororities to raise awareness about our free services and resources. I would encourage elected officials, chambers of commerce 

and other stakeholders to build relationships with their local 

HBCUs and do the same. Some examples of how these stakeholders 

may work with HBCUs to support burgeoning entrepreneurs and 

jobseekers include: 

• Hosting entrepreneurship workshops to provide guidance 

to enterprising students and alumni networks 

• Host innovation competitions in partnership with HBCUs 

to encourage potential entrepreneurs to pitch their business 

ideas 

• Work with employers to provide necessary workforce development training resources to students in growing industries. 

One model program could be New York City’s Tech Talent 

Pipeline Residency, run by the New York City Department of 

Small Business Services, which works directly with employers 

to train undergraduate students, helping them develop the necessary skills to have a successful career in tech. 

2. Last week this Committee held a hearing on the difficulties 

small businesses, and particularly minority- and women-owned 

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small businesses, face in competing for federal contracts. In your 

testimony, you talked about New York City’s Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC), which offers support to small businesses, including minority, women, and veteran-owned businesses 

that have historically not had access to government contracting opportunities. 

Can you tell us more about that Center, and how it works to enable these small businesses to compete in the federal marketplace? 

2. Procurement Technical Assistance Center 

The New York City Department of Small Business Services’ Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) provides support for 

businesses interested in government procurement. The Procurement Technical Assistance Center is funded in part with the help 

of the U.S. Department of Defense and the Defense Logistics Agency. The services provided by the center help small businesses navigate the entire government procurement process, from bidding to 

completion. By empowering NYC government contractor’s with education, mentorship programs and targeted workshops and training 

resources, we are providing businesses with the capacity to grow 

their businesses into the federal and state contracting arenas. Our 

services help businesses to: 

• Become certified as Minority and Women-owned Business 

Entities (M/WBEs), SBD, 8(a), Small Disadvantaged Business 

(SDB), HUB Zone, Woman Owned, Service Disabled and Veteran Owned Business programs 

• Understand how to do business with the government 

• Learn how to respond to RFPs effectively 

• Access a range of one-on-one assistance and training to 

help ease into government contracting with New York City, 

New York State and Federal agencies 

More specifically, topics covered by PTAC include: 

• Introduction to Government Contracting 

• Small Business Certifications 

• Doing Business with General Services Administration 

• Navigating System for Award Management 

• Contract Accounting, Response to RFPs/Proposal Writing 

Æ With technical assistance to help businesses understand requirements for government contracts 

• Teaming Arrangements and Subcontracting 

• Finding the Right Contracting Opportunities 

Æ Includes notifications of government contracting opportunities and how to locate these opportunities 

• Successfully performing a contract 

• Managing and completing contracts, submitting payment 

requests and resolving issues with government agencies 

3. Unfortunately, we know that minority-owned businesses are 

more likely to face obstacles, like difficulty accessing capital. According to a 2016 study, white owners were three times more likely 

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59 

to say their loans were always approved than were African-American owners. 

What policies could Congress implement to provide greater access to capital for these types of small businesses? 

3. Barriers for Black Americans to Access Capital 

Due to generational inequalities in wealth distribution created by 

discriminatory local, state and federal policies, many black Americans face barriers to accessing capital. Traditional measures of 

credit-worthiness continue to be an especially difficult barrier for 

black entrepreneurs. Alternative criteria for evaluating credit-worthiness (e.g. strength of a business plans, testimonials from trustees, history of rent payments, etc.) would help address the persistent disparity between black and white business owners’ credit 

scores. 

To make it easier for small businesses to access capital, SBS provides free financing services. Through NYC Business Solutions, 

one-stop business centers located in every borough, we match businesses with the right lender for their needs and business profiles 

and walk them step-by-step through the loan process. Since 2014, 

SBS has connected approximately 1,800 businesses to $155,000,000 

in financing. For Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (M/WBEs) contracting with New York City, SBS offers the 

Contract Financing Loan Fund. This revolving fund offers loans of 

up to $500,000 capped at 3% APR, one of the lowest interest rates 

available in the market. Since the program’s launch in 2017, we 

have lent more than $7 million to small businesses. 

Sincerely, 

Gregg Bishop 

Commissioner 

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National Main Street 

Center 

Dear Mr. Chairman, 

Nationally recognrzed. 

Locally powered:" 

Small businesses and healthy downtown districts arc crucial to the success of local economies, 

especially in small rural towns and under-resourced urban neighborhoods. The National Main 

Street Center (NMSC) has supported the revitalization of older and historic commercial districts 

for nearly four decades. Today, our Main Street America network of more than 1,600 

neighborhoods and communities, rural and urban, share both a commitment to place and to 

building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development. Since 1980, 

Main Street America communities have reinvested $74.73 billion, created 138,303 new 

businesses, created 614,716 jobs and rehabilitated 276,790 buildings. 1 We welcome the 

opportunity to share with the committee about our work to revitalize neighborhoods and create 

small business friendly environments. 

The Main Street Approach 

Changing demographics, the drastically shifting retail environment, and evolving local and 

regional economic dynamics pose a series of new challenges and opportunities to neighborhood 

revitalization efforts. These changes have significant implications for the development and 

growth of entrepreneurs themselves, as well as the downtowns and commercial districts where 

they set up shop. In response, the NMSC' s work with communities is centered around a 

comprehensive framework known as the Main Street Approach. 

The Main Street Approach is a practical, adaptable framework that encourages local community 

leaders to engage in a process of intentional community engagement, strategic goal-setting, and 

rigorous impact measurement. The Main Street Approach has been deployed in over 2,000 

communities since 1980. Over time, implementation of the Main Street Approach helps 

communities take their economic destinies into their own hands, offsets the burden of l6cal 

government, and creates vibrant downtowns where local businesses thrive. 

In addition to supporting communities in their implementation of the Main Street Approach, the 

National Main Street Center partners with members of the Main Street America network to 

implement innovative programming and initiatives to advance their efforts to revitalize their 

downtowns and commercial districts. Two of these initiatives are detailed below. 

Entrepreneurial Ecosystems 

Small businesses and entrepreneurial enterprises have long played an important role in defining 

the fabric of our communities-helping to fuel local economies, providing unique experiences 

for consumers, and catalyzing innovation. The significant national growth of the small business 

1 These figures are based on cumulative statistics gathered by the National Main Street Center from its 

member communities from 1980 to December 31, 2017. 

www.mainstreetorg 
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economy has shown a correspondingly significant impact on downtowns and neighborhood 

commercial districts across the country. In response to these national trends, the NMSC is 

advancing the concept of place-based 'entrepreneurial ecosystems' as a way of organizing the 

resources and support systems required to help entrepreneurs thrive. 

These entrepreneurial ecosystems strategically align a variety of public and private efforts to 

provide necessary financial, social, and human capital, all while focusing on the community's 

unique physical spaces. building stock, and walkable human scale. Successful entrepreneurial 

ecosystems in commercial districts promote local business ownership through engaging district 

stakeholders and leveraging distinct cultural assets. 

Placemaking 

Since 2015, the National Main Street Center (NMSC) has partnered with NYC-based, 

international nonprofit Project for Public Spaces (PPS) to help revitalize towns and communities 

through placemaking-a community-led process that helps activate downtowns and community 

gathering places. Placemaking provides a powerful set of tools for change that local communities 

can easily learn and apply. Through low-cost physical improvements (i.e. pop-up parks, 

interactive public spaces, murals), communities can make immediate and affordable changes to 

public spaces while also building local support and demonstrating to stakeholders the potential 

for further long-term projects and investments. 

In addition to engaging local citizens, placemaking projects create the kind of physical 

environment that attracts people to the streets, and in turn, to the small businesses than line those 

streets. Through this partnership, the NMSC has provided direct training and supported 

crowd funding efforts in dozens of communities in ten states. 

Conclusion 

In a globalized, hyper-competitive economy, quality of place matters more than ever. More and 

more people are choosing to live, work and shop in places with a distinct sense of place and 

strong quality of life. Healthy, vibrant Main Streets are essential to creating that quality of place, 

offering walkable, character-rich environments which make great homes for a variety of retail, 

service, and light manufacturing uses. 

Over the past four decades, the NMSC's work has illustrated the connection between quality 

places and economic competitiveness. Our strategies for ensuring this health include supporting 

comprehensive implementation of the Main Street Approach, fostering entrepreneurial 

ecosystems, and advancing placemaking initiatives. 

We appreciate the opportunity to share with you, and thank you for your support of small 

businesses. and the neighborhoods they call home. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Patrice Frey 

President and CEO, National Main Street Center 

2 
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Thumbtack 

June 18, 2018 

Chairman Steve Chabot and Ranking Member Nydia Velasquez 

House Committee on Small Business 

2361 Rayburn House Office Building 

Washington, DC 20515 

Dear Chairman Chabot and Ranking Member Velazquez: 

Thumbtack is honored to have the opportunity to share our data and analysis of small 

business sentiment with the Small Business Committee. Thumbtack is a website and an 

app that helps hundreds of thousands of local service professionals across the country 

like electricians, music teachers, wedding planners, and personal trainers find customers. 

In 2012, Thumbtack developed a Small Business Friendliness Survey with experts from 

the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation to ask owner-operators of small businesses 

about the policy environment where they operate, and learn what governments can do to 

create a healthy, vibrant local business environment. Since then, Thumbtack has 

conducted the nationwide survey annually, creating the largest continuous study of small 

business owners' perceptions of government policy in the United States. 

Why Small Business Friendliness Matters 

Although the businesses that are surveyed by Thumbtack are small in size (93 percent of 

our respondents have five or fewer employees), the perceptions of the local business 

environment by these entrepreneurs matters for three reasons: 

1. The United States is a service economy- 80 percent of all workers today work 

in service industries.' The view of service providers, even very small ones, is 

critical to understanding the environment for job creation as employment in 

manufacturing continues its historical decline. 

2. Entrepreneurship is a critical avenue for displaced workers- research from the 

Kauffman Foundation shows that entrepreneurial activity tends to increase when 

the economy slows? The easier it is for an individual to start and run a business, 

the faster he or she can get back to work. As more American middle class jobs 

face the threat of automation and competition from overseas, self-employment 

1 The Department of Labor projects that 95 percent of workers will be in service industries by 2024. 2 Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity, 1996-2013 
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could become a viable path to make a living for millions of Americans. 

3. Entrepreneurship is on the decline- government statistics show a general 

decline over the last 20 years in rates of self-employment and the rate of new 

business startups3 This is happening across industries and across the country. 

Understanding how policy choices affect very small, new businesses is critical to 

understanding how to turn the tide on this crisis of small business ownership. 

Methodology and Results 

The 2017 Thumbtack Small Business Friendliness Survey study reached 13,284 small 

business owners in all fifty states to ask about their policy preferences and evaluations of 

their state and local governments. With this survey data, we provide three different 

analyses. 

First, we grade 50 states and 80 metropolitan areas on 12 dimensions ranging from 

overall business friendliness to more specific measures, such as the friendliness of a 

region's labor regulations. 

Second, we use econometric procedure known as dominance analysis to determine 

what small businesses want most from their state and local governments. This exercise 

revealed that licensing requirements and tax regulations are single biggest determinants 

of small businesses' evaluations of their local and state governments, respectively. 

Finally, we use regression analysis to determine how improving along different policy 

measures affects perceptions of overall friendliness. These results indicate that, among 

other things, requiring a service provider to hold a license is only negatively correlated 

with friendliness evaluations if that license is also seen as being difficult to comply with. 

Small Business Priorities 

In this sixth year of the survey, small business owners told us that the top priority for their 

local and state governments should be to make regulations straightforward and easy to 

follow-especially those surrounding licensing, taxes, safety, and employment. Small 

businesses see these types of regulations as their biggest impediment to starting, 

growing, and sustaining a thriving business. As a result, states and cities that have 

successfully streamlined the regulatory steps to starting and growing a business received 

the highest scores from small business owners in the survey. 

3 Hathaway, 1. and Litan, R. E. (2014). Declining business dynamism in the United States: A look at states 

and metros. Brookings Institution. 
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The 2017 survey results also reveal that small business owners often care much less 

about the policy initiatives that often receive the most attention from state and local 

public officials-such as corporate relocation tax incentives and public funding of new 

sports stadiums-and much more about regulations, access to training programs, and 

ease of using government websites that impact their day-to-day operations. In our 

survey, small business owners reported that they spent an average of over 8.5 hours per 

year simply on compliance rules, and have to visit government offices at least three times 

a year to get necessary information and paperwork. 

Given these challenges, many small business owners expressed frustration that state and 

local governments were spending considerable time strategizing, offering large tax 

incentives, and removing regulations to entice large corporations to move to their city, 

while doing little to support existing small businesses or lower their tax and 

administrative burdens. Unlike their larger counterparts, small businesses often lack the 

political lobbying power or legal resources to secure exemptions and navigate the 

regulatory landscape. 

Top Scoring States and Cities 

For the sixth straight year, there is substantial geographic variation in the perceptions of 

small business owners regarding the friendliness of their state and local governments. 

On one end of the spectrum, survey respondents in Wyoming were the most likely to 

refer to their state government as supportive, report that starting a business there is 

easy, or recommend starting a new business. Those in Delaware, Idaho, Louisiana, 

Maine, Texas, Utah, and Indiana were also quite likely to express such positive attitudes, 

earning these states the other seven A+ grades we awarded this year. 

At the opposite end, small business owners in New Mexico expressed the most negative 

attitudes about their state's policy environment. Small businesses in Illinois and Alaska 

felt relatively unsupported by their state governments as well, leading these three states 

to also receive a F grade. 

On the local level, Boise, ID took the #1 spot this year, after being unranked last year due 

to insufficient responses and being 18th and earning a B+ overall grade in 2015. Our #2 

city, Worcester, MA had an even more dramatic improvement, surging all the way from 

71st (out of 78) last year, when it had aD+ overall grade. Texas was also quite successful 

on the local level, with three of the top ten cities coming from the Lone Star State: San 

Antonio came in third overall (it was #11ast year), while Austin came in fourth, and 

Houston tenth. 
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Other cities in the top ten included: Grand Rapids, Ml (#5), Memphis, TN (#6), Louisville, 

KY (#7), Lawrence, MA (#8), and Salt Lake City (#9). On the bottom were Greensboro, NC, 

Rochester, NY, and Honolulu, HI, all of which received an F grade. The state-level and 

city level results are included in the maps below. Additionally, an interactive visualization 

of all the ratings, full best practices report and survey methodology are available at 

https://www.thumbtack.com/survey. 

We appreciate the Committee's focus on small business friendliness and it's continued 

efforts to support small business ecosystems. 

Sincerely, 

Kellyn Blossom 

Thumbtack Public Policy 
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State Overall Grade 17 Kentucky A- 34 Minnesota C+ 

1 Wyoming A+ 18 Massachusetts A- 35 Wisconsin C+ 

2 Delaware A+ 19 Oklahoma A- 36 North Carolina C+ 

31daho A+ 20 Mississippi A- 37 Oregon c 

4 Louisiana A+ 21 Nebraska A- 38 Michigan c 

5 Maine A+ 22 Alabama B+ 39 Nevada c 

6 Texas A+ 23 Kansas B+ 40 Connecticut C7 Utah A+ 24 Florida B+ 41 Pennsylvania C81ndiana A+ 25 Ohio B+ 42 Hawaii C9 New Hampshire A 26 South Dakota B+ 43 California C10 South Carolina A 27 Arizona B+ 44 New Jersey C11 Georgia A 28 Washington B+ 45 New York D+ 

12 Colorado A 29 Montana B 46 Rhode Island D+ 

13 Virginia A 30 Tennessee B 47 West Virginia D 

141owa A 31 North Dakota B 48 Alaska F 

15 Arkansas A 32 Missouri B- 49111inois F 

16 Vermont A- 33 Maryland B- 50 New Mexico F 
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City Overall Grade 27 Charlotte, NC 8+ 54 San Jose, CA C+ 

1 Boise, ID A+ 28 Denver, CO 8+ 55 Ft Lauderdale, FL c 

2 Worcester, MA A+ 29 Indianapolis, IN 8+ 56 San Diego, CA c 

3 San Antonio, TX A+ 30 Columbia, SC 8+ 57 Sacramento, CA c 

4 Austin, TX A+ 31 Omaha, NE 8+ 58 Charleston, SC c 

5 Grand Rapids, Ml A+ 32 Jacksonville, FL 8+ 59 Baltimore, MD c 

6 Memphis, TN A 33 Boston, MA B 60 New Haven, CT c 7 Louisville, KY A 34 Raleigh, NC 8 61 Las Vegas, NV c 

8 Lawrence, MA A 35 Phoenix, AZ 8 62 Tacoma, WA 

9 Salt Lake City, UT A 36 Greenville, SC 8 C10 Houston, TX A- 37 Colo. Springs, CO 8 63 Newark, NJ C11 Fort Worth, TX A- 38 Dallas, TX 8 64 Portland, OR C12 Tulsa, OK A- 39 Allentown, PA 8 65 Pittsburgh, PA C13 Seattle, WA A- 40 Riverside, CA 8 66 Columbus, OH C14 Okla. City, OK A- 41 Bridgeport, CT B 67 Tucson, AZ C15 Atlanta, GA A- 42 Philadelphia, PA B 68 Buffalo, NY D+ 

16 Washington, DC A- 43 Kansas City, MO B 69 Chicago, IL D+ 

17 Nashville, TN A- 44 Miami, FL B- 70 Birmingham, AL D+ 

18 Knoxville, TN A- 45 Orlando, FL B- 71 New York, NY D+ 

19 Milwaukee, WI A- 46 W Palm Beach, FL 8- 72 Detroit, Ml D+ 

20 Virg. Beach, VA 8+ 47 Oakland, CA 8- 73 Camden, NJ D+ 

21 Cincinnati, OH B+ 48 Richmond, VA B- 73 Hartford, CT D+ 

22 Minneapolis, MN B+ 49 San Francisco, CA C+ 75 Cape Coral, FL D+ 

23 Sarasota, FL B+ 50 St. Louis, MO C+ 76 Providence, Rl D 

24 Cleveland, OH B+ 51 Albony, NY C+ 77 Albuquerque, NM D 

25 Tampa, FL B+ 52 Anaheim, CA C+ 78 Greensboro, NC F 

26 New Orleons, LA B+ 53 Los Angeles, CA C+ 78 Rochester, NY F 
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80 Honolulu, HI F 
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Conducted since the 

Thumbtack Small Business 

friendliness Survey is the lar

continuous study of small 

business owners' perception

of government policy in the 

United States. 

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Small Businesses 

and the Future of Work 

.<\ao:;r, H'><> !J.S. ecor:o.,,y, estabbdvnentt Th•s year we've t:<llded ti"·e s,...ali 

FriendlinessS:;r-..ey.givingavoi(.e 

"You can as much 

time your 

business as you do 

c-hasinn down rules 

and local laws." 

One frustcated owner 

':omm>.1ruty m the Umted 

To r•ad the fonnal report and m•t

vi•Jit 

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Policy Priorities for 

the Skilled Professional 

Licensing Health and Safety 

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Best Practices for 

Business Friendliness 

licensing Health and Safety 

City is n•..,lly straightforward about what 

you n•od to do h::o get your li<::11fi.l'G. "-Frod J" Ph•mbN "I think thatVitgil•i<ll do1u: a good j<:>bof 

me Up on what's requited so new regulations don't 

sn,.ak Upl>nd me a fin&. TI"Hlre are so many 

regulationl>, ha11ir1g help $taying Up on &V!IIrything is raa!ly St<!lva K., Contractor 

Taxes 

"Tax<.l<S ar<!. r<!'asonable- in Memphis. Nobody likes 

here the governmfllnt 

raw is. relatively low/' 

-Stacey, M., Wedding Planner 

Zoning 

S<>he,ld•ho•;,• . .,.,J 

"As long .u you cl<tar what's permitted within the 

property linGs dnown fnr your proja<:t, you .:an build 

whati#V<.>r }It:> II W>mt to. Th,. l!:Oning rotgulation.ll in 

th* <::ity don't get in thE> way of the proje<:tsl workand that's not th,. cas.ll! d'"P•H•t:Ung Ql'l where 

.. ntr<>ctor 

Labor Regulations 

"The city iii proatty easy to with in 

Our biggest con.::ern is to p .. uerve. Ol.!f gorgeous 

waterway" of and koa<!lp th<!!m dean. 

The .:1ty doa.s that well by W'Clrking with busin..-ss.,.. 

nrtherthan again,.t thoam." -Ste""'" T., HVAC Toachnk1an 

Websites 

Training 

a number of Knoxville's 

to build my real estat"" bu,.inen.through my local real astate boar

networking events through the N

of Commen:ll!," -Kim 1 .• Rea! 
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• 

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Gender 

Age Education 

Ethnicity 

Veteran 

Status 

Political 

------

In Business 

I 
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2017 Thumbtack Small Business Friendliness Survey: 

Methodology & Analysis 

Lucas Puente* 

Economist, Thurnbtack.com 

lucas. puente@thumbt.ack.com 

October 24, 2017 

Abstract 

The 2017 Thurnbtack.com Small Business Friendliness Survey polled over Ll,OOO 

small business owner-operators from f\cross the country on their policy preferences find 

eva! nations of th<•ir state and local governnwnts. \Vit h this survey data, we provide 

tlnee novd contributions. First, we grade 50 stlttes rrnd 80 metropolitan areas on 12 

dimo11sions, ranging frmn OV('rall bu}-lillcss friendlitwss to mon~ Hpedfic tncasures, such 

as the friendliness of an area's labor regulations. Second, we use econometric procedure 

known as dominance analysis to determine what small businesses want most from their 

state and local governments. This exercise revealed that licensing requirements and tax 

regulations are single biggest determinants of small businesses's cwaluations of i hdr local 

and state governn1ent::;, respectively. Finally, we use regression analysis to determine 

how improving along different policy measures affects perceptions of overall friendliness. 

These results indicate that, among other things, requiring a service provider to hold a 

license is only negatively correlated with friendliness evaluations if that license is also 

seen as being difficult to comply with. \Vith these results, we look forward to working 

with state and local officials to help improve policy conditions for small businesses across 

A1ncrica. 

"'Snjin Oh and Fiorella VVevrr contributed invaluable resParch assistancE" t.o this report and Jon Lieber 

provided insight and expertise that greatly assisted the development of this study. 
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1 Introduction 

The Thumbtack Small Business Friendliness Survey is an annual, nationwide survey that 

asks owner-operators of small lmsirwsses about the policy environment where they operate. 

The survey aims to learn what governments can do to create a healthy, vibrant local business 

environment by asking the owner-operators of small businesses themselves about these issues. 

This year we usc the survey data to grade all 50 states along with 1:10 mclropolitan rcgiom 

according to their performance along 12 rnetrics. This is the largest survey of its kind; so 

far as we know, Thumbtack is the only organization in the United States that has had the 

rwccssary access aJl(l motivation to produce such a large-scale survey of small businesses 

owners' policy preferences over the course of years. 

This is the sixth annual release of the survey, which was originally developed with experts 

from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. 

Although the businesses that are surveyed by Thumbtack are small in size (93 percent of our 

respondents have 5 or fewer employees), the perceptions of the local business environment 

by these entrepreneurs matters for three reasons: 

1. The United States is a service economy 80 percent of all workers today work 

in service industries. 1 The view of service providers, even very small ones, is critical 

to understanding the environment for job creation as employment in manufacturing 

continues its hbtorical decline. 

2. Entrepreneurship is a critical avenue for displaced workers - research from 

the Kauffman Foundation shows that entrepreneurial activity tends to increase when 

the economy slows (Fairlco, 2014). The easier it is for an individual to start and run 

a business, the faster he or she can get back to work. As more American middle class 

jobs face the threat of automation and competition from overseas, self-employment 

could become a viable path to make a living for millions of Americans. 

3. Entrepreneurship is on the decline government statistics show a general decline 

over the la;;t 20 years in rates of sclf~employrncnt and the rate of new business startups (Hathaway and Litan, 2014). This is happening across industries and across the 

country. Understanding how policy choices affect very small, new businesses is critical 

to understanding how to tum tho tide orr this crisis of small business ownership. 

Policies that arc friendly towards self-employed entrepreneurs may act as a proxy for the 

regulatory climate for businesses generally stat,es that did well in our survey have also seen 

higher real output growth going back five years. As Figure 4 in Appendix D shows, states 

with higher friendliness scores have substantially higher growth rates than their less friendly 

counterparts. The bivariate regression displayed in that figure also indicates that a one unit 

increase in a state's friendliness rating moving from the average respondent indicating 

that the state's is "neither unsupportive nor supportive" of small business to "somewhat 

supportive") is associated with a jump in real economic growth per year of 1.41 percentage 

1The Department of Labor projects that 95 percent of workers will be in service inclustrif~s by 2024 

(Henderson, 20 l3). 
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points per year. That's far from trivial since 43 states achieved ammal growth of under 

2.55 percent in 2016 and real GDP growth slowed to 1.5 percent in 2016, significantly down 

from 2015's growth rate of 2.6 percent. The relationship between economic growth and small 

business friendliness is also statistically significant on the metro level, with a one unit change 

in perceived local business friendliness corresponding to a increase of 2. 25 percentage points 

in annualized real GDP growth (see Figure 

There Rre many nmkings Rnd inchces thRt designed to evaluate a particular city or state's 

appeal to business. The Thumbtack.com Small Business Friendliness Survey differs from 

other such rankings in several meaningful ways: 

1. The Thumbtack survey asks small business owners directly about their perceptions of their government many other studies of the same issue rely on the 

perceptions of the researcher to determine which factors make a political environment 

favorable or unfavorable.~ By prioritizing these other indices, policymakers may do 

little to improve conditions on the ground, at least in the eyes of small businesses 

(:\!otoyama and Hui, 2015). 

2. The scale of the survey is nearly unprecedented this year we received over 

13.000 responses from small business owners in every state. Not only do few other 

outlets have the capability of asking that many entrepreneurs the same set of questions 

on a regular basis, few other outlets are able to break down the results of survey in a 

consistent fashion across state and metro areas. In addition to the large sample, the 

scope of the survey, grading cities and states along 12 dimensions using a consistent set 

of questions over multiple years, captures some nuance that may otherwise be lost from 

simply looking at a handful of metrics and declaring an area friendly or unfriendly. 

3. The survey is conducted with no preexisting agenda- the purpose of the survey 

is to present, without ideological bias, the views of the small business owners who use 

Thumbtack. \Ve are not. pushing any particular agemla or advocating for any political 

outcomes. Onr goals are simply to understand what makes government work better 

for small businesses, Recording to their own beliefs. 

2 Survey Design & Methodology 

The survey was administered between July 26 and September 6, 2017. A link asking business 

owners or operators to take the survey was provided to business users of Thumbtack.com 

while they were logged into the site during this period, with some also prompted to take 

the survey via e-mail. Each of the business owners using the site during this time period 

example, the '~Best P0rfonning Citif'sn ranking done by thE' !\lilken InstitutP. relies entirf'l,y on outputs 

such as which city saw the highest job or wage growth. The "State Business 'I~'x Climate Index" (2014) by 

the Tax Foundation relies only on the Tax Foundation's view of what makes a friendly tax code and not on 

the vie\v of local busine.sscs. T'hesc rankings, while interesting to review, show little correlation to each other 

and may end up revealing little abont the actual experience of businesses that operate on the ground 

and the business environment 2005; Kolko ct al., 2013). 

2 
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was shown the prompt at least once, leading to 13,284 completed responses. Responses that 

completed less than half of the substantive questions in the survey were thrown out. 

The full text of the survey appears in Appendix A. Information on the demographic profile 

of survey rcspondcmts, including how they compare to husinms owners nationally, can be 

found in Appendix B .. And full results for cities and states can be seen in Appendix C. 

Generally, survey questions fall into one of three categories: 

1. questions 1 through 15 ask about a state or locality's friendliness towards small business. 

(a) Respondents provided subjective evaluations, ranging from "very friendly" to 

"very unfriendly" on topics including state and local governments' overall support 

of small businesses, regulations that affect their business, and training programs 

and online resources offered by local and state governments. 

(b) questions 16 through 19 are open-ended, "free response" questions that provide 

business owners with the opportunity to provide additional qualitative feedback 

on their interactions with their governments and their current policy concerns and 

priorities. 5,026 respondents answered at least one of these questions 3 

2. Questions 22 through 34 as about demographic information connected to each respondent and his/her business. 

To quantify the answers to the questions in this section, we converted the categorical responses we received for each question into numerical scores and averaged those scores in 

each category for each city or state. For the questions that are answered on a five-point 

scale, we assign a score of 1 for answers that were very negative, 2 for answers that were 

somewhat negative, 3 for neutral answers, 4 for answers that were somewhat positive, and 5 

for answers that were very positive. 

\Ve also compute grades for three categories with nested questions. vVhen asking about one's 

experiences with local training programs, government websites, and licensing requirements. 

we start by identi~ying whether or not the business has used this resource or is required to 

hold a license by the relevant authority (the city or county for city grades or state for state 

grades) and then proceed to ask them about the helpfulness of that resource or the ease 

of complying with that license. Tahle 1 describe in detail how the scores for these specific 

grades are calculated. 

vVhile these two approaches enable us to calculate scores for the 11 mctrics that we observe 

directly, we also compute a composite scores of the regulatory environment. This is computed 

by averaging the state or city's performance on the 6 regulation-related questions in the 

survey (i.e. those from the multi-faceted Likert, scale in questions 8 and !.J). 

Note also that the overall small business friendliness grade is based based purely on survey 

respondents' answer to this questionA 

3,) solicit,s colltact information for those that would like to have their answers to the questions 

in this s0rtion sharcrl. -..vith the media. 

-

1

In prior years. this grade \vas a composite of answers to this question, along with answers to questions 2 

3 
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Table 1: Grading Rubric for Categories with Nested Questions 

Score Training Website Licensing 

Experience Experience Experience 

:--Jever used a Not required to hold 

1 

Unaware of training government a license or permit 

programs website by a local / state 

authority 

Aware of training Used a government Required to hold 

2 programs, but has not website, but found it a license or permit; 

found compliance participated in one "very difficult" to use "very difficult" 

Participated in a Used a government I Required to hold 

3 training program, website, but found it 

I 

a license or permit; 

but found it "very "somewhat difficult'' found compliance 

unhelpful" to use "somewhat difficult" 

Participated in a C~cd a fSOVCrnn1C'Ilt Required to hold 

4 training program, but website; found it a license or permit; 

found it "somewhat "neither easy nor found compliance 

unhelpful'' difficult' to nse "neither eBsy nor difficult" 

Participated in a Used a government Required to hold 

5 training program; website; found it a license or permit; 

found it "neither helpful "somewhat easy" found compliance 

nor unhelpful'' to use "some,vhat easy)) 

Participated in a Used a government Required to hold 

6 training program; website; found it a license or permit; 

found it "somewhat "very easy') to use found compliance 

helpful" ''very easy" 

Participated in a 

7 training program; -

found it "very helpful" 

• States: In general, how would you rate your state government's support of small business o\vners? 

• Cities: In general, how would you rate your local (county, city, or town) government's 

support of small business owners? 

In RlL we develop grades and ranks for cities and stRtes for these 12 rnetrics: 

1. Overall small business friendliness 

2. Ease of starting a small business 

·\,Vould you discourage or encourage someone from starting a new business where you live?") and 3 ('How 

difficult or easy is it to start a business where you live?"). 

4 
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3. Ease of hiring a new employee 

4. Overall regulatory friendliness 

5. Friendliness of health and safety regulations 

6. Friendliness of employment, labor, nnd hiring regulations 

7. Friendliness of tax code and tax regulations 

8. Friendliness of licensing requirements 

9. Friendliness of environmental rules 

10. Friendliness of zoning regulations 

11. Availability of helpful training or networking programs 

12. Availability of easy-to-use government websites 

Grades were based on the average score of the respondents in the relevant geography. 

Places with the highest average scores received A+ grades and those with the lowest average 

scores received F's. The exact grade was determined based on the average score's position on 

the overall distribution on that dimension. with thresholds determined based on historicctl 

data. 

To avoid assigning grades where we did not have a sufficient number of respondents, we only 

graded cities where we received 30 or more responses. while states had to receive at least 50 

responses to receive a grade or a sufficient share of t.he businesses in that stnte. 

3 Grading Results 

For the sixth straight year, there is substantial geogmphic variation in the perceptions of 

smnll hnsin0ss owners regarding the friendliness oft heir st.nt.<e and locnl governments. On one 

end of the spectrum, survey respondents in \\.yoming were the most likely to refer to their 

state government as supportive, report that starting a business there is easy, or recommend 

starting a new busirwss. Thos<: in Dclawar<:, Idaho, Louisiana, Mnirw, Texas, Utnh, and 

Indiana were also quite likely to expn~ss such positive attitudes, earning these states the 

other seven A+ grades we awarded this year. At the opposite end, small business owners in 

New Mexico exprcs;;cd the most negative attitudes about their state's policy environment. 

Small businesses in Illinois and Alaska felt relatively unsupported by their state governments 

as well, leading these three states to a.lso receive a F grade. 

On the locnl level, Boise, ID took the #1 spot this year, after being unranked last year due 

to insufficient responses and being 18th and earning a B+ overall grade in 2015. Our #2 

city, vVorcestcr, MA had an even mor<: dramatic improvement, surging all the way from 7lst 

(out of 78) last year, when it had aD+ overall grade. Texas was also quite successful on 

the local le\'el, \vith three of the top ten coming from the Lone Star State: San Antonio 

carne iu third overall (it wa::; #1 last while Austin came in fourth, and Houston 

5 
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tenth .. Other cities in the top ten included: Grand Rapids, :VII (#5), :'vlernphis, TN (#6), 

Louisville, KY (#7), Lawrence, YIA (#8), and Salt Lake City (#9). On the bottom were 

Greensboro, NC, Rochester, NY, and Honolulu, HI, all of which received an F grade. The 

state-level results are displayed in Figure 1 as well as in Table 6, while the city grades and 

ranks can be found in Figure 2 and Table 7 (see Appendix C). Additionally, an interactive 

visualization of all the ratings is available at https: //www. thumbtack. com/survey, and 

the full set of grades and ranks can be downloaded via our API (sec the instructions at 

https://github.com/thumbtack/sbfs-data). 

Figure 1: Choropleth of State Small Business Friendliness Ratings 

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4 Analytical Methodology 

vVhile these grades provide insights into where skilled professionals feel most supported 

by their local and state governments, they do not accomplish the second objective of our 

survey: determining which policy factors are most important to this community. To do this, 

we examined which policy measures are most responsible for the primary outcome of interest: 

respondents' perceptions of how supportiYc their state and local governments arc to the small 

business community (i.e., their answers to questions 1 and 2) using an econometric procedure 

known as dominance analysis. 5 The methodology behind this step is relatiYely straightforward: using the dorn.in package in St.aht (Luclnnan. 2011a), a multivariate regression is 

nm for each possible combination of independent variables to determine the proportionate 

contribution each policy measure makes in explaining Yariation in the outcomes of interest: 

respondents' evaluations of the friendliness Jeyds of tlwir states and citics6 

Importantly, in each regression model, we account for potential confounding Yariables that 

are both respondent-specific, such as an individual's race, gender, age of business, and if they 

are aligned with the dominant political party in their state or city, as well as others like the 

strength of the economy in the respondent's state or metro area at the time of the survey 

(as measured by the unemployment rate, annual percentage change in payroll employment. 

and annualized GDP change in the last quarter). Since our dependent variables (friendliness 

are perception-based, we tt!so control for the overall level of happiness in each 

state and city7 By including this full ~et of control \'ariables, we are able to calculate the 

v.nique contribution of the 11 distinct policy measures we ask about: 

• Health Regulations 

• Labor Regulations 

• Tax Regulations 

• Licensing Requirements 

• EnYironmental Rules 

• Zoning Regulations 

• Tax Complexity 

• Tax Rat.es 

• Government 'A'ebsite 

• Licensing Compliance 

• Training Opportunities 

more backgronnct on this methodology. sec Budcscn anct Azcn (2004) and .Johnson nnct LeBreton 

(2004). 6Since lhe dependent variable is measured on a five-point scale 1 we relied upon an ordinal logistic regression 

as our workhorse econometric model. Sec Ludnnan (2014b) for a discussion of how to best usc dominance 

in the presence of rnnlti-category dependent variables. 

and city-specific happiness scores come from Mitchell et a!. (2013). 

8 
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"With the full sample of over 13,000 responses, we performed dominance analyses on both 

the city and the state level to determine which policy measures matter most in those two 

different jurisdictions.In addition, we ran dominance analyses for as many cities and states 

as possible ;;o we coulcllearn what makes each of these cities and states nnique from a policy 

prioritization perspective. 

To complement this set of analyses, we also conducted a series of ordinal logistic regressions. 

The dependent variable was either the state or local friendliness rating for each individual 

response, scored on a level from 1 ("very unfriendly") to 5 ("very friendly"). In the '·baseline" 

equation we settled on (using various diagnostic techniques), the variables are the same as 

in the dominance analyses: the 11 policy measures, plus the full set of control variables. To 

account for possible intra-state correlation that isn't accounted for by the variables in the 

regression, we cluster the standard errors by state8 

5 Analytical Results 

Thumbtack's snrvey has consistently shown that the most important factors to small businesses are training and networking opportunities offered by a local government, and the 

friendliness of complying with regulatory burdens, including, most importantly, the tax 

rules and licensing laws. This year, the dominance and regression analyses offered simple 

conclusions on the national leveL Highlighting this, we found that regulations are the most 

important determinant of friendliness evaluations on both the state and local level. Specifically, for both states and cities, regulatory bnnlcns, led by those c;mTomHling licensing and 

employment, were among the most important drivers of friendliness ratings. 

In addition, the dominance and regression analyses produced the following results: 

• What matters at the city level differs from the state level although for both 

cities and states, regulators burdens matter more than other policy measures, local 

support evaluations arc more influenced by licensing; n'quirements, while ;;tate support 

is most driven by tax regulations. 

• Tax rates are less important than regulatory complexity for both cities and 

states, tax rates still matter far less than either tax-related regulations or the burden 

of complying with tax-based regulations. 

• Licensing is not black and white - respondents who weren't rcqnirnd to have a 

license judged their cities and states in a more favorable light. Put differently, those 

required to hold a license that was seen as being difficult to comply with were far less 

likely to evaluate their state and local governments favorably. However, respondents 

who said complying with licensing rules was "very" or "somewhat easy" to comply with 

were just as favorable towards their governments as respondents who weren't required 

to have a license at all. 

rda.xcs the standard requirement that all observations in a given state are independent. 

9 
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•When the job market heats up, ease of hiring matters more - labor rules 

have become more important as the economy has rebounded and the unemployment 

rate has dropped. This is true on both the state and local level, as business owners 

become much less likely to evaluate their governments as "very supportive" when they 

also report that labor and employment regulations are either "somewhat" or "very 

unfriendly.,. 

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Appendix A: Thumbtack Business Friendliness Survey 

Questions 

2017 Thumbtack Business Friendliness Survey 

Thanks for participating in Thumbtacks Small Business Friendliness Survey! 

This survey should take under 10 minutes to complete. It asks questions about how friendly 

your state and local government are toward small businesses like yours. 

Thumbtack will use the results of this survey to provide policymakers and researchers with 

valuable information on how best to support skilled professionals like you. 

In publicizing these survey results, Tlmmhtack will only use anonymized anri/or aggrcgRtcd 

riata unless you give permission to shRrc your comments publicly. All publicly released 

analysis will reflect aggregate (overall) results. 

Thanks for your participation. 

-The Thumbtack Team 

1. In general, how would you rate your state government's support of skilled professionals 

like you? 

o Very supportive 

o Somewhat supportive 

o Neither supportive nor unsupportive 

o Somewhat unsupportive 

o Very unsupportive 

2. In general, how would you rate your local (county, city, or town) government's support 

of skilled professionals like you? 

o Very supportive 

o Somewhat supportive 

o Neither supportive nor unsupportive 

o Somewhat unsupportive 

o Very unsupportive 

3. In generaL how would you rate the federal government's support of skilled professionals 

like you? 

o Very supportive 

o Somewhat supportive 

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o ::-Jeither supportive nor uu,;upportive 

o Somewhat uusupportive 

o Very U!Isupportivc 

4. \Vould yon discourage or encourage someone from starting a new business where you 

live? 

o Highly encourage 

o Somewhat encourage 

o Neither encourage nor discourage 

o Somewhat discourage 

o Highly discourage 

5. How difficult or easy is it to start a business where you live? 

o Very easy 

o Somewhat easy 

o Neither easy nor difficult 

o Somewhat difficult 

o Very difficult 

5a. Only show if respondent's answer to Q5 is "Neither easy nor difficult", "Somewhat 

difficult" or "Very difficult": 

What were the biggest roadblocks to starting your business? Select all that apply. 

o Access to credit. 

o Access to customers 

o Complying with licensing requirements 

o Complying with tax requirements 

o Paying government fr>es to start my business 

o Understanding and navigating government rules for registering a new business 

o Other-------------

5b. Only show if respondent's answer to Q5 is "Somewhat easy" or "Very easy": 

How specifically did your local and state governments help you in starting your business'1 Please select all that apply. 

12 
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~> •• ·•,•••···.· ..... •{~'' ~li' .h ·<··Y,I\'•~•·... .;;;; i 'L01:\lilJJ s~:~Jtt~s'e 

Making it possible to comply 

with regulations 0 0 

governing 

starting a business online 

Providing helpful ''how to'· 

guides and information for 0 0 

complying with regulations 

gov('rniug starting a business 

1 Providing helpful people to 

talk to (online, in person, or on 0 0 

phone) 

Other 0 0 

None of the above 0 0 

6. How difficult or easy is it to obtain and keep health insurance at your business? 

o Very easy 

o Somewhat easy 

o Neither easy nor difficult 

o Somewhat diflicult 

o Very difficult 

7. How difficult or easy is it to hire a new employee at your business7 

o Very easy 

o Somewhat easy 

o Neither easy nor difficult 

o Somewhat difficult 

o Very difficult 

o Docs not apply to my business 

7a. Only show if respondent's answer to Q7 is "Very easy", "Somewhat easy", "Neither 

easy nor difficult", "Somewhat difficult", or "Very difficult": 

What obstacles do you face in hiring a new employee at your business? Please select 

all that apply. 

o Can't find qualifi<ld workers 

o Potential employees aren't willing to work at the wage I would like to pay 

13 
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o Government rules make hiring new workers too difficult 

o I face no obstacles to hiring new employees 

o Other 

8. How unfriendly or friendly is your local government with regard to the following types 

of regulations: 

Very Somewhat Neither Somewhat Very Does not 

friendly friendly friendly nor unfriendly unfriendly apply to 

unfriendly mybusine8s 

Health and 

safety 0 0 0 0 0 0 

regulations 

Employment, 

labor and 

hiring 0 0 0 0 0 0 

regulations 

Tax code and 

tax-related 0 0 0 0 0 0 

regulations 

Licensing 

forms, 0 0 0 0 0 0 

requirements 

and fees 

Environmental 

regulations 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Zoning 

or land usc 0 0 0 0 0 0 

regulations 

9. How unfriendly or friendly is your state government with regard to the following types 

of regulations: 

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.·. r ...,,:; .} . _Ne\~f!e~ ·· ·co •. ·•· -~-"~' • D<>e~rrt>i• 

j i.yor~. ;, .. i:· .t~ .,, •.. ':'':'';~' '' ''e ' ,,, ... ~"'~··-:;~,, ' ...... , .. lt~nfriefrdlv · J~ .·.··• ·ru] '<11·"'"'1'"" 

Health and 

safety 0 0 0 0 0 0 

regulations 

Employment, 

labor and 

hiring 0 0 0 0 0 0 

regulations 

Tax code 'and 

tax-related 0 0 0 0 0 0 

regulations 

Licensing 

forms, 

requirements 0 0 0 0 0 0 

and fees 

Environmental 

regulations 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Zoning 

or land use 0 0 0 0 0 0 

regulations 

10. Does your profession require that you hold any of the following to do your job? Select 

all that apply. 

o License 

o Certification 

o Permit 

o I'm not required to have any of these to do my job 

lOa. Only show if respondent's answer to QJO is "License", "Certification", and/ or "Perrnit": 

'Which of the following types of agencies require that you have a license, certification, 

or permit to do your job? Please select all that apply. 

o City, town, or other municipal agency 

o County agency 

o State agency 

o Federal agency 

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o An industry licensing board 

lOb. Only show if respondent's answer to QJO is "License", "Certification", and I or "Permit", with the options in the first column depending on the choices made in QJOa: 

How difficult or easy is it to comply with the licensing, certification, or permitting 

requirements of your profession? 

0 0 0 0 

agency 

County agency 0 0 0 0 

State agency 0 0 0 0 

Fcdt:ral flg<:ncy 0 0 0 0 

An industry 0 0 0 0 

licensing board 

lOc. Only show if respondent's answer to QJO is "License", "Certification", and I or "Permit", with the options in the first col·urnn depending on the choices made in Q10a.: 

How strictly enforced are the licensing, certification, or permitting requirements of 

your profession? 

City, town. or 

other municipal 0 0 0 0 0 

agency 

County agency 0 0 0 0 0 

State agency 0 0 0 0 0 

Federal agency 0 0 0 0 0 

An industry 0 0 0 0 0 

licensing board 

11. How difficult or easy is it to understand and file your business's taxes? 

o Very easy 

o Somewhat easy 

o Neither easy nor difficult 

o Somewhat difficult 

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o Very difficult 

12. Do you consider the amount of federal income tax your business pays as too high, 

about right, or too low? 

o Too high 

o About right 

o Too low 

o Don't know/~o opinion 

13. Are you aware of any helpful training, skill development, or networking programs for 

business owners offered in your community?_ 

o Yes, and I have used them in the past 

o Yes, but I haven't used them 

o No 

13a. Only show if respondent's answer to QJS is "Yes, and I have used them in the past": 

Who off{;rcd the training that you partidp;tted in? Please select all that 

apply. 

o Local Chamber of Commerce or another business association 

o A local school or college 

o A local government entity 

o Local chapter of SCORE or the Small Business Administration's Small Business 

Development Centers 

o Other-------------

13b. Only show if respondent's answer to Q 13 is "Yes, and I ha.ve used them in the past'': 

\Vhat type of program(s) have you participated in? Please sdect. all that apply. 

o Business development (e.g. marketing, accounting, etc.) 

o Skill development (i.e. honing your craft.) 

o Networking with other people in my field 

o Networking with potential clients 

o Other-------------

13c. Only show if respondent's answer to QJS is "Yes, a.nd I have nsed them in the pa8t": 

How helpful were the training or networking programs you participated in? 

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Very 0 0 0 0 0 

helpful 

Somewhat 

helpful 0 0 0 0 0 

"\either 

helpful nor 0 0 0 0 0 

unhelpful 

Somewhat 

helpful 0 0 0 0 0 

Very 0 0 0 0 0 

unhelpful 

13d. Only show if respondent's answer to QJS is "Yes, but I haven't used them" or "No": 

\Vhat type oft raininp;s or events could local orp;aniurtions offer to appeal to yon? Select 

all that apply. 

o Business development (e.g. marketing, accounting, etc.) 

o Skill development (i.e. honing your craft) 

o Networking with other people in my field 

o Networkinp; with potential clients 

o Other ________________________ ___ 

14. \Vhich organization would you turn to first if you wanted to learn more about running 

your business? 

o Local Chamber of Commerce or another business association 

o A local school or college 

o A local government entity 

o A state entity 

o Local chapter of SCORE or the Small Business Administration's Small Business 

Development Centers 

o Other ---------------------------

18 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 
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15. Have you usee! a state andjor local government website to comply with regulations on 

your business or to learn information about operating a. business in your community? 

l5a. Only show if one or rnore of 1·cspondcnt 's answers to q 15 is "Yes": 

\Vhat did you use these websites to do? 

15b. Only shaw if one or more of respondent's answers to (J15 is "Yes'': 

How difficult or easy was it to use thP 

0 0 

?-Jeithcr easy nor diflkult 0 0 

Somewhat clifficult 0 0 

Very difficult 0 0 

15c. Only show if both of respondent·'s answcTs to (J/5 ·is "No": 

\Vould you become more likely to use government websites if there were new features 

on them? 

o Yes, I don't use them today because they lack the featmcs I need. 

o No, I'm not interested in using government websites. 

15d. Only show if respondent's answr:r to (J15e is "Yes, I don't nsc them today l>ecmtse !.hey 

lack the features I need": 

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\Vlmt !(mtures would you like your local and state government websites to offer'' Select 

all that apply. 

·. ' < .. · .. · .·· f, c'r>t< . St"'te "'"l-l'"i+c.ci 

File taxes 0 

Obtain a business liccuse 0 

Obtain an occupational 0 

license 

Register my bnsincss 0 

(when starting) 

Learn information about 

I 

rnnning a business in my 0 

community 

Other 0 

16. Pkas<> kt us know any cxpmicnccs or thoughts yon have 

business where you live. 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

the case of doing 

17. How have your local 

hurt your business? 

or cmmty) government's policies and programs helped or 

18. How hrtve your state government's policies and programs helped or hurt your business? 

19. \Vhat policy changes are being debated in your community that concern you and your 

business? 

20. Is this busine;;s your primary employment, or is it a side job? 

o Primary employment 

o Side job 

21. How long as your business been nn,pr";llYHYI 

o Less than 1 year 

o 1-2 years 

o 3-5 years 

o More than 5 years 

20 
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22. How many people does your business employ? Please include only paid employees, not 

contractors. 

o 1 - I work alone at my business 

0 2-5 

0 6-10 

0 11-20 

0 21-50 

0 51-100 

o 101 or more 

23. What type of company is your business? 

o Unincorporated or sole proprietorship 

o Limited liability company (LLC) 

o Partnership (LP, LLP, GP) 

o S-Corporation 

o C-Corporation 

o I don't know 

24. Have you ever been an entrepreneur prior to your current company? 

o Yes 

o No 

25. What is your gender? 

o Female 

o Male 

26. What is your race or origin? 

o White 

o Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish 

o Black or African American 

o Asian 

o Other 

27. What is your 

o Under 2.5 

21 
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0 25-34 

0 35-44 

0 45-5,1 

0 55-64 

o 65 or above 

28. What is the highest level of education you have reached? 

o Less than high school 

o High school 

o Community college 

o Technical college 

o Undergraduate degree 

o Masters degree 

o Doctoral degree 

29. In geneml. how would you describe your own political viewpoint? 

o LihPral 

o Moderate 

o Conservative 

o Prefer not to answer 

30. Generally :;peaking, do yon think of yourself as a . ? 

o Democrat 

o Rcpublicrrn 

o Independent 

o Other 

o Prefer not to answer 

:H. Are you currently serving or have you ever serwd on active duty in the U.S. Armed 

Forces, Military Reserves, or :\'ational Guard? 

o Yes, I am an active duty member of the U.S. Armed Forces 

o Yes, I currently serve in the Military Reserves or or the National Guard 

o Yes, I previouoly served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces, l\iilitary Reserves, or National Guard but I am now a civilian 

22 
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o No, I have never served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces, i\Iililary Reserves. or National Guard 

32. Do you currently have health insurance? 

o Yes 

o No 

o Prefer not to answer 

32a. Only show if respondent's answer to Q32 is "Yes": 

Which of the following is your MAIN source of health insurance Is it a plan 

through your employer, a plan through your spouse's employer, a plan you purchased 

yourself either from an insurance company or a state or federal marketplace, are you 

covered by :Vfedicare or i\[edicaid, or did you get your health insurance from somewhere 

else7 

o Plan you purchased yourself 

o Plan through your spouse's employer 

o Mcdica.n) 

o Medicaid 

o Plan through one of yonr parents 

o Somewhere else 

o Don't know 

33. How many minutes a year do you spend filling out government paperwork? 

34. How many times have you had to visit a government office in the last year for your 

business? 

35. Would you be willing to be quoted in the press about how the cnrrent economy affects 

yonr business? 

o No 

35a. Only show if respondent's answer to Q35 is "Yes": 

Great - Please provide the following information: 

o First Name: _____________ _ 

o Last Name: 

23 
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o Email Address: --------------

o Profession: 

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Appendix B: Survey Population 

The sample of businesses included in this survey is concentrnted in the professional and 

nonprofessional services sector, as is\ he general population of businesses that usc Thumbtack 

to acquire new customers. This segment. of the economy is substantial and expected to 

grow. According to the Bnrecm of Labor Statistics, 80.1 percent of all workers today work 

in service industries and 94.G percent of all the jobs expected to be added in the next ten 

years are projected to be in this part of the economy9 Table 5 documents the representation 

of different industries in our and compares this to the industry distribution of the 

national population of businesses. 

In terms of the demographic characteristics of the small business owner-operators that we 

heard from, our sample represents a wide range of diversity ncross geography, race and 

ethuieity, gender, age, and educational attainment. As TablP 2 shows, onr sample is younger 

and more diverse with respect to race and gender than the national population of business 

owners. \Vc believe the survey can therefore provide very useful data for states and localities 

trying to determine what they can do better to make themselves friendlier to small service 

businesses from a variety of backgrounds. 

Table 2: Demographic Representation 

l'dale 

2G-:H 

35-44 

45-54 

55-G;J 

65 or above 

Black of African American 

Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish 

Other 

White 

60.04% 

11.10% 

18.97% 

2649% 

25.42'}\, 

15.57% 

9.067c 

12.11% 

1287c 

70.64% 

59.61% 

2G.28% 

26.11% 

2296% 

15.25% 

4% 

12.58% 

10.53% 

7.2% 

67.11% 

\Nc also compared the age and size of the businesses in our survey with those of the general 

more. see http://www. bls. gov/news .release/ecopro .nrO .htm. 10All of the data\\'<:' acquired about the characteristics of American businesses and their owners come 

from t hr Ccnsns 13nrran 's 2012 Survr:v of Ilnsinrss Owners. Srr http://www. census. gov /library I 

publications/2012/econ/2012-sbo.html. 

25 
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business population (see Tables 3 & 4). On both dimeusions, the Thumbtack survey sample 

has a similar distribution to the broader American busiuess community. In terms of business 

age, our sample includes slightly more newer firms than average, though, just like the overall 

population of busiuesscs, a plurality of our respondents has been in busiucss for at. least 5 

ymrs. On the employment size dimension. our sample is more compact than the broader 

population. with both fewer non-employer firms and fewer businesses with over 20 employees. 

Table 3: Representation by Business Age 

1-2 years 

:l-·5 years 

5 or more years 

15.81% 

10.54% 

.59.70% 

20.30% 

18.06% 

39.56% 

Table 4: Representation by Number of Employees 

1-4 9.90% 28.15% 

5-9 3.36% 3.94% 

10-19 2.05% 1.56% 

20-,19 1.33% 0.73% 

50 or more 0.79% 059% 

The responses to our survey also closely paralleled the geographic distribution of small. 

service-based businesses in the country. 11 The response rates of only four states varied from 

their expected rc;;ponse rates by more than 1 '/c, a.nd New York was the only state to vary by 

more than 2%.t2 California, the state that has the most businesses of this type in the country 

(13.09 percent of the total), was also the most represented in our survey, with 11.13 of our 

respondents based there. Texas and Florida, the second and third most populous states for 

small, service-based businesses, were also well-represented in our survey; both are home to 

more than 8 percent of our survey respondents. On the other end of the spectrum, we had 

only 0.01 percent of our sample from \Vyoming, though this is only just off the state's overall 

share of small, service-based businesses. The choropleth in Figure 3 displays this da.ta, with 

the color of each state corresponding to the share it contributed to our sample. 

define small businesses as firms \Vith no more than 20 employees. 12Ncw York was under-sampled in this year's survey by 2.:~9 percentage points, given its share of smalL 

scrvkC'-basf'rl. bm:;incsses according to the C<'nsns numbers. This patt('rn is consistent with prC>vions Small 

Business Friendliness surveys. 

26 

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tV 

---1 

Figure 3: Percent of Responses by State 

0.12 11.13 
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Table 5: Industry Representation 

21 quarrying, 0.47'/i and Oil and Gas Extraction 

22 Utiliti0~ 0.09% 

2:l Const met ion ]()(),1'/[, 11.33% 1GA9% 

31-33 2.13% 0·14% 

42 Wholesale TnHlr 2.55'/\ 

'11-45 H.ctail Tmdr• 9.12\;{ 9.70% 051% 

48-49 4.39'/\ 4.G7% 1.58% 

Gl lnfonna tion 1.40(ji 1.50% l.U5% 

52 Finance and :)48\7, 3.70% 031% Insurance 

G3 Real Estate and 9.70/c 10.33% UJ9% Rental and 

ProfessionaL 

ii4 Scientific, and 14.11% 15.02'){, 2536% 

Technical Sr:rviccs 

of 

55 0.10% () 021

1t· 

Enterprises 

Administrative and 

5G and \Vast(' 8.377S 8.91% 18.45% '\Ianagemcnt and 

RPmediation Services 

Gl Edncational Services 2.45% 2G1% 7A·1% 

62 Health care and 9.28'![, 9.88% 2.91% Socinl Assistance 

71 Arts, Entntninnwnt, 4.81% 5.12% 4.49% nncl Recrm tion 

72 Accommodation and :) 02'/(. 3.21% 2.28% Food Services 

Other Services 

1:<1 1317\7, l·L02'/ir 1G 5GS{ 

99 Industrir:s Not 0.03% Classified 

28 
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r.ll 

<ll 

..., 

~ 

U) 

"' <ll 

:0 

~ 

[/J 

Q;l 

"'0 

(ij 

.... 

0 

~ 

[/J 

,..!:l:j 

:::: 

(ij 

~ 

u 

~ ..... 

"'0 

:::: 

Q;l 

0.. 

0.. 

< 

29 
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Insert offset folio 108 here 30505.077SBR002 with DISTILLER

w 

,_. 

Omaha. NE 

Orlando, FL 

Pltilutldphia. PA 

Phoenix, AZ 

Pittsburgh, PA 

Portland. OR. 

Providullt:t'. R1 

Hal£>il.';h, NC 

!Uchmond, VA 

Riverside. CA 

Rochest-er. ~Y S<UT/lll)('JJ!(J, CA 

Suit, Lt1ke C ir.y, \JT 

San Antonio, TX 

San Diego, C' A 

San F'ru.ndS(:o, CA 

San .JOS4:l. CA 

Sarasota, FL 

Seattle. WA 

St. f_.;Jui.:;, MU 

Tt\c.:oma, WA 

TIUHJM , FL 

Tucson, AZ 

Tulsa, OK 

Vir)!.i.Uiil. 13f~adl VA Wt~shington DC 

WC8t Palm BcHdl, FL 

Won:cstcr. MA 

B+ 31 

B- 45 

n 42 

B 35 

C- 65 

C- 64 

D 76 

B 34 

13- 48 

D 40 

F 78 

c 57 

A 9 

A+ J 

c 56 

C+ 4!.> 

C+ 54 

13+ 2J 

A- U 

C 1- .'JU 

C- 62 

B+ 25 

C- G7 

A- 12 

B+ 2n 

A- Hi 

D- 46 

A+ 2 

D+ 62 

B+ 22 

(' [,2 

n 31 

C+ .12 

D 7D 

D 7-1 

A 4 

C+ 46 

D 'i'J 

D+ !iS 

D+ 61 

B+ 2.5 

13 27 

D 75 

D 76 

F 79 

D 29 

B+ 7D 

c: .\7 

C+ 43 

C- 50 

D+ 60 

II 

A+ 

c 47 

C+ 45 

A- 10 

Table 7: Cities (Continued) 

A+ 4 B- 36 

D+ 25 A- 1:1 

c c :}(j 

c 54 13- 37 

C 56 D 73 

D+ 76 C+ 50 

A+ !0 D 70 

A 13 A 

B36D28 

B 34C5J 

A 14 F 78 

077072 

A 15 U- 38 

A- 2J A- 10 

D+ 72 0 + 68 

C+ 47 F 77 

D• 6g D 69 

C 55 B+ 17 

B 32 B 27 

D-t 74 C + 4!J 

C 57 C+ 44 

C+ 42 B 2J 

ll+ 29 D 74 

A+ ll D-+ 20 

A+ 8 A 6 

D+ 27 B 24 

C+ 45 l3 21 

C- 62 B+ 16 

A- 16 A 14 

B+ 23 A- 21 

n :!{; n- 4(i 

B- 41 C+ 50 

C 61 D 74 

C- G6 C+ 58 

0 75 c ('i2 

1\ 11 A+ 6 

C 62 D 41 

B- 44B42 

D+ 70F 78 

c 57 c 6J 

D 31 B+ JO 

A G A+ 7 

C- 64 C 66 

D 74 D+ W 

C- 63 l) 72 

A 9 B+ 28 

B+ 22 B+ 34 

n :.n B- 4S 

C+ 49 13- 52 

ll+ 21 A- 23 

F 79 F 79 

B- <12 Il+ :.15 

A+ 2 A;- 4 

A- 17 A 12 

B+ 24 0 + 29 

A- 12 A- 2:) 

0 - 47 

A+ 4 

C-i 4!1 

U- 44 

F 78 

C+ 52 

C- 61 

II 6 

B+ 26 

C+ 50 

F 76 

0 -! 67 

13- 39 

A- 19 

D+ 65 

F 79 

c )j9 

D 28 

n 

n 

D 30 

A- 16 

D+ 68 

A- II 

A 9 

B 29 

B 33 

13- 4l 

c 46 

A- 16 

C- 5:s 

B- 31 

D+ 67 

c.,. 44 

D-t· 71 

A 6 

B+ 22 

C- 52 

F 78 

0 -t ij:l 

c 47 

A- 13 

D+ 70 

F 77 

C- r)6 

A- 18 

B- :l5 

C-+ J7 

F 75 

B- 29 

c 51 

A 

A 

C+ 40 

C+ J!l 

B+ 24 

A- 23 

A+ 8 

c U•l 

13- 43 

C- 70 

DC 51 66 

A+ 7 

C+ 57 

D- 40 

D+ 74 

F 80 

C+ 5J 

A 12 

C- 72 

c 62 

]) 76 

A+ 2 

A - 20 

C+ 56 

B- 48 

D+ 27 

c 60 

B-t 26 

B 33 

B+ 24 

A- 18 

B+ 28 

C+ 

nD+ 5fJ 

C+ 33 

1). 

llJ) 

c D+ 55 A 

D+ 50 C 

0 + 52 C·t 

B t 11 A 

D+ 61 A+ 

c 

0 + 

D+ 56 

F 71 

F 77 c 

C+ 30 B- 

B+ 

F 

F 

D 

A12 A 70 C+ 

74 A- 

G6 C+ 

10 C+ 

C+ 2,1 D- 

D U•l D- 

13- 19 F' 

C+ 25 A 

F n c 

C-t- :H /\ 1- 

A 5 C+ 

ll- 21 B 

n w a 

C HF 

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6 ·AppendixD: 

-o 5,0% 

0 

N 

N 

. . 0 

N 

.r:.' 

2.5% 

2 

(.J 

""' CL "" 0 (.J 

n; 

<lJ 0.0% 

0:: 

Source; Thumbtack Small. Business Friend
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Table 9: Dominance Analysis: Local Support 

Rank Factor Dominance Statistic 

1 Licensing Regulations 0 0157 

2 Tax Regulations 0.0150 

3 Health & Safety Rules 0.0147 

4 Labor Regulations 0.0139 

5 Tax Complexity O.Q105 

6 Zoning 0.0095 

7 Website Experience 0.0092 

8 Environmental Rules 0.0085 

9 Training Opportunities 0 0080 

10 Licensing Experience 0.0044 

11 Controls 0.0038 

12 Tax Rates 0.0009 

Table 10: Dominance Analysis: State Support 

Rank Policy Factor Dominance Statistic 

1 Tax · Regulations 0.0141 

2 Licensing Regulations 0.0135 

3 Health & Safety Rules 0.0112 

4 Labor Regulations 0.0109 

5 Tax Complexity 0.0089 

6 Zoning 0.0087 

7 Environmental Rules 0.0077 

8 Controls 0.0070 

9 Website Experience 0.0069 

10 Training Opportunities O.OOGl 

11 Licensing Experience 0.0033 

12 Tax Rates 0.0009 

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Table 11: Ordinal Logistic Regression Results 

Dependelll Variable: State Support Local Support 

N cithcr friendly nor unfriendly OJJJO -0 093 

(0.076) (0.103) 

Somewhat friendly 0.225** 0.189* 

Health & Safety ( 0. O~H) (0.120) 

(Baseline Somewhat unfriendly -0.024 -0.134 

Does Not Apply) (0.086) (0.147) 

v~ry friendly 0.531 *** 0.735*** 

(0.106) (0.171) 

Very unfriendly -0.480*** -0.437** 

(0.158) (0.214) 

Neither friendly nor unfriendly 0.069 -0.099 

(0.08) (0.093) 

Somewhat friendly 0.207*** 0.152 

Labor Regulations (0.069) (0.094) 

(Baseline= Somewhat unfriendly -0 144 -0.290** 

Does Not Apply) (0.091) (0.129) 

Very friendly -0.010 0.179 

(0.138) (0.175) 

Very unfriendly -0.223 -0.572*** 

(0.149) (0.192) 

Neither friendly nor unfriendly 0.018 -O.ol5 

(0.067) (0.126) 

Somewhat friendly 0.188** 0.211 

Tax Regulations (0.076) (0.146) 

(Baseline= Somewhat unfriendly -0 118 -0.041 

Does Not Apply) (0.077) (0.152) 

Very friendly 0.502*** 0.411 * 

(0.128) (0230) 

Very unfriendly -0.492*** -0.337* 

(0.125) (0.183) 

Neither friendly nor unfriendly 0.130 0.277* 

(0.087) (0.147) 

Somewhat friendly 0.330*** 0.406*** 

Licensing Requirements (0.085) (0.149) 

(Baseline Somewhat unfriendly -0.080 0.011 

Does Not Apply) (0.075) (0.156) 

Very friendly 0.58*** 0. 713*** 

(0.107) (0.182) 

Very unfriendly -0.3:38** -0.304 

35 
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Table 11: Ordinal Logistic Regression Results (Continued) 

Neither friendly nor unfriendly -0.106 -0.126 

(0.081) (0.093) 

Environmentrrl Somewhrrt friendly -0.038 0.037 

Rules (0.105) (0.106) 

(Baseline= Somewhat unfriendly 0.055 0.119 

Does Not Apply) (0.123) (0.127) 

Very friendly -0.036 -0.141 

(0.213) (0.175) 

Very unfriendly -0.072 -0.164 

(0.138) (0.195) 

Neither friendly nor unfriendly 0.001 0.085 

(0.079) (0.089) 

Somewhat friendly 0.095 0.175* 

Zoning (0.094) (0.096) 

(Baseline = Somewhat unfriendly 0.050 0.016 

Does Not Apply) (0.084) (0.109) 

Very friendly 0.664 *** 0.416*** 

(0.159) (0.153) 

Very unfriendly -0.091 -0.277 

(0.122) (0.193) 

Somewhat difficult -0.151 *** -0.060 

(0.051) (0.078) 

Tax Complexity Somewhat easy 0.162*** 0.254*** 

(Baseline= (0.049) (0.070) 

Does Not Apply) Very difficult -0.524*** -0.582*** 

(0.09) (0.086) 

Very easy 0.353*** 0.377*** 

(0.062) (0.095) 

Tax Rates It's too high -0.076* -0.052 

(Baseline= It's about (0.042) (0.048) 

36 
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Table 11: Ordinal Logistic Regression Results (Continued) 

(0.05) (0.058) 

Government Somewhat difficult -0.176*** -0 179 

Website (0.06) (0.115) 

Experience Somewhat easy 0.161 *** 0.129* 

(Baseline= (0.039) (0.067) 

None) Very difficult -0.603*** -1.121 *** 

(0.168) (0.231) 

Very easy 0.323*** 0.484*** 

(0.064) (0.100) 

:\either helpful nor unhelpful 0.173 0.262** 

(0.108) (0.128) 

Programs Available but Unused 0.353*** 0.390*** 

(0.044) (0.060) 

Somewhat helpful 0.282*** 0.347*** 

Training (0.074) (0.069) 

Opportunities Somewhat unhelpful 0.261 0384 

(Baseline= (0.21) (0.267) 

None) Very helpful 0.594*** 0.672*** 

(0.069) (0.077) 

Very unhelpful -0.241 0420 

(0.408) (0.605) 

Difficult Compliance, Neutral on Enforcement -0.296** -0.297 

(0.132) (0.249) 

Difficult Compliance, Poorly Euforced -0.449* -0.538** 

(0.232) (0.221) 

Difficult. Compliance, Well Enforced 0.165* -0.287* 

(0.092) (0.166) 

Easy Compliance, Neutral on Enforcement 0.141 * 0.260** 

Licensing (0.079) (0.128) 

Compliance Easy Compliance, Poorly Enforced -0.365** 0.004 

(Baseline= (0.1:31) (0.172) 

None) Easy Compliance, Well Enforced 0.240*** 0.233*** 

(0.047) (0.064) 

:\eutral Compliance, Neutral on Enforcement 0.003 -0.061 

(0.083) (0.116) 

::'\cutral Compliance. Poorly Enforced -0.297 -0.331 

(0.255) (0.205) 

::'\eutral Compliance, Well Enforced 0.222*** 0.148 

37 
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Table 11: Ordinal Logistic Regression Results (Continued) 

Area Unemployment Rate -0.108*** -0.106*** 

(0.028) (0.039) 

Area GDP Change 0.006 0.012 

(0.017) (0.017) 

Area Employment Change 4.275 0.679 

Control (5. 970) (2.832) 

Variables Area Happiness Level -0.600 0.577 

(0.36) (0.783) 

Political Contiguity 0.344*** 0.278* 

(0. 059) (0.145) 

1-2 years -0.218*** -0.157* 

Business Age (-0.053) (0.080) 

(Baseline= 3-5 years -0.248*** -0.169*** 

Less than (0.044) (0.063) 

1 Year) More than 5 years -0.411 *** -0.352*** 

(0.036) (0.062) 

Gender Female -0.210*** -0.044 

(Baseline= (0.036) (0.042) 

:'vial c) 

Asian 0.304** 0.138 

(0.108) (0.112) 

Race Black or African A!llerican 0.095** 0 014 

(Baseline = (0.04) (0.071) 

White) Hispanic , Latino, or Spanish 0. 148** 0.058 

(0.072) (0.102) 

Other -0.165* -0.113 

(0.082) (0.091) 

Cut 1 -7.001 0.078 

(2. 232) (4.656) 

Cut 2 -5 790 1. 289 

Constants (2.243) (4.653) 

Cut3 -3.678 3.385 

(2.248) (4.657) 

Cut 4 -1.637 5.520 

(2.254) (4.657) 

Observations 7,478 11 ,246 

Robust standard errors, clustered by state, in parentheses. 

*** p<O.Ol, ** p<0.05, * p<O. l 

38 
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