Washington Policy Center to Release “24 Ways to Improve the State’s Small Business Climate” Today

Olympia –Washington Policy Center (WPC) will release its new study, “24 Ways to Improve the State’s Small Business Climate” today during the annual Small Business Day at the Capitol in Olympia.

Last November, several hundred small business owners convened at Washington Policy Center’s Statewide Small Business Conference to discuss and rate policy recommendations in order to improve the state’s small business climate. Eight breakout sessions sought small business owners’ feedback on policy proposals. The breakout sessions addressed:

* Access to affordable health insurance
* Transportation
* Tax reform
* Workers’ compensation
* Eminent domain abuse
* Data security
* Streamlined sales tax
* The state’s new paid family leave program

At the core of “24 Ways to Improve the State’s Small Business Climate” are small business owners’ top three recommendations in each of these policy areas.

“‘24 Ways to Improve the State’s Small Business Climate’ is a list of common-sense ideas that small business owners would like to see implemented in order to make it easier to operate and grow their businesses,” said Carl Gipson, director of WPC’s small business and technology research. “Some of the ideas are large-scale proposals, but most are fairly simple proposals that policymakers should take seriously if they are concerned about providing an environment in which small businesses can succeed.”

The 2007 Statewide Small Business Conference featured Attorney General Rob McKenna and Stephen Dubner, co-author of the New York Times bestseller Freakonomics. Washington Policy Center has held statewide conferences and regional forums addressing small business policy issues since 2002.

Additional copies of “24 Ways to Improve the State’s Small Business Climate” will be available at Washington Policy Center’s annual legislative briefing on January 30th from noon until 1 p.m. at the John L. O’Brien hearing room A in Olympia.

“24 Ways to Improve the State’s Small Business Climate” is available online here.