As Texas Sponsor A Highway® begins to take shape throughout the state of Texas, it’s important that we ourselves, and our sponsors know a little bit about the business climate in each of our five markets. The U.S. economy grew 4% in the second quarter of 2014, and things are looking up for businesses throughout the nation.

In an article released in the Dallas Business Journal, Bakeries, beauticians, and boutique owners are among the small service marketplace that Thumbtack has used to rank Dallas as the fourth best city in the country for starting a small business.

For the third year in a row, Thumbtack.com has partnered with the Kauffman Foundation to conduct a survey of small businesses nationwide. With this particular survey, the goal is to learn what small businesses believe is a healthy political a regulatory climate by having them rate how it is to do business where they live. The survey aims to learn what creates a healthy, vibrant local business environment by asking owners & operators directly about these issues in the cities in which they live.

Ranked among other areas of the country like Colorado Springs, Colorado; Boise, Idaho; Austin, Texas; and Louisville, Kentucky; Dallas took top marks in all but two categories. Evaluation criteria is based on a number of categories such as ease of starting a business, ease of hiring, regulations, health and safety zone, tax code, licensing, environment, zoning and training, as well as networking programs.

In fact, FIVE Texas cities made Thumbtack’s Top 10 for overall business friendliness, with Houston coming in third, Austin in fourth, Dallas is sixth, Fort Worth in seventh, and San Antonio in eighth!

The nationwide Sponsor A Highway® program has businesses of all sizes sponsoring in its different states; from major corporations to smaller “mom and pops.” The program is affordable and suitable for all business types; from the smaller service industry, to the constantly growing automotive industry.

According to Thumbtack, some of the key findings for Dallas include:

• Dallas was the fourth best city in the country for starting a small business.
• Five Texas cities made the top ten for overall business friendliness – Houston (#3), Austin (#4), Dallas (#6), Fort Worth (#7), and San Antonio (#8).
• Dallas could improve its score on the visibility of its training and networking programs – even though small businesses have said these are important, Dallas earned a C grade for training and networking programs.
• Dallas earned an A+ for its health and safety, tax, and labor regulations.
• Small businesses say that hiring is significantly easier in Dallas than in neighboring Fort Worth – Dallas earned a B+ for ease of hiring while Fort Worth earned a D+.
• The top rated cities overall were Colorado Springs, Boise, Houston, Austin, and Louisville. The lowest rated were Sacramento, Providence, Buffalo, Bridgeport, and San Diego.

For more information about the survey & to review its full methodology and analysis follow the link below:

2014 Thumbtack.com Small Business Friendliness Survey: Methodology & Analysis