The small business sector in Washington state is a key component of the state’ s economic health. However, Washington’ s business regulatory environment, including tax, workplace and environmental rules, constricts business and job growth. The majority of small-business owners stated that the main reason they located to the state or decided to start a business in Washington was because of the quality of life. Other factors such as the low cost of energy, access to global trading gateways, and an entrepreneurial environment encourage small business growth in Washington state. It is important to continue to seek policies that give small businesses the opportunity to grow and prosper in our state.
Washington state small businesses participating in the focus groups identified the following issues as their top areas of concern:
• Business regulations in Washington state create an anti-competitive environment with other states because of higher financial burdens.
• Washington state’ s workplace regulatory environment is structured in a way that creates an adversarial relationship between the employee and employer.
• Soft skills( also categorized as employability skills), along with impending retirements and an inadequatelysupplied workforce pipeline, must be addressed to ensure the next generation of workers is prepared to support existing and new small businesses in the state.
• The cost of health care continues to increase while at the same time access to care and services are decreasing.
Given these findings, it is crucial that the business, regulatory and workforce development environment in the state support policies that encourage business growth, innovation and job creation.
What does regulatory reform look like to you?
“ More freedom / power for businesses to operate and grow, less power in centralized state regulators … Create a more level playing field for the regulated and less for the regulators.”
— Pullman Business Owner