Montana topped the list in a new report that ranks best states for starting a new small business. The state's first-place ranking was based on a handful of factors including consumer spending, labor costs and climate by The Blueprint, an off-shoot of the investment advice publication The Motley Fool.
Montana ranked especially high in its rate of new entrepreneurs. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, the number of new business applications in the state rose 50% between January of 2020 and January of 2021.
Montana also has a high survival rate for new businesses, which Montana High Tech Business Alliance Executive Director Christina Henderson says stood out to her.
"It's one thing to have a high number of startups, which we know, we've had for a long time, but it's very encouraging to see that a lot of those businesses are staying in business," she said.
The report says Montana’s tax climate could be more business friendly. Gov. Greg Gianforte has outlined a series of tax policy proposals he says will help Montana businesses grow. Those include new exemptions to business equipment taxes and tax cuts to individual income and capital gains.
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