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Report Shows Wisconsin's Small Business Environment Is Improving

velkr0, flickr

How important are small businesses to the state's economy?

It turns out for businesses that are small, their impact is indeed large. The impact is quantified in new data from the federal Small Business Administration.

Christine Kymn, Chief Economist and Director of Economic Research for the SBA’s Office of Advocacy,  discusses Wisconsin's ranking with Lake Effect's Mitch Teich.

"[Wisconsin] seems to be a particularly friendly environment for entrepreneurship. The self-employment averages tend to be a little bit higher in Wisconsin than on the U.S. on average," Kymn says. "It also seems to be a pretty good state for veteran entrepreneurship - the average in Wisconsin is a little bit higher than it is for the U.S. average."

Why are conditions for small businesses in Wisconsin improving?

"We do know that access to capital is consistently reported as important to small businesses in terms of both their sustenance as well as their growth," Kymn says. "And in Wisconsin in the past year, we did observe a decrease in bankruptcies, so that’s a sign that there’s been some improvement in the capital environment in the state."

Audrey is a WUWM host and producer for Lake Effect.