by Jaimie Siegle | Advertising Systems Inc.
When it comes to friendliness toward small businesses, Texas is among the friendliest in the country, according to a recent survey by Thumbtack.com. In addition, Houston, Austin and San Antonio took three of the top 5 cities. The findings reflect the opinions of more than 7,000 small business owners who say that licensing regulations, training programs and health insurance are major deciding factors – even more than taxes, ecreditdaily.com recently reported.
Texas, being quite the overachieving state (kidding), earned straight A’s in every category, from health & safety and tax code to “ease of starting a business,” “ease of hiring” and overall friendliness. 
Thumbtack.com, which helps people find and hire local services, created a nifty interactive map that also breaks down by state. In Texas’ map, you can read comments from business owners in and around the Houston area, who range from artists to store owners to maintenance technicians. The survey also found that Texas “ranked 7th in the nation for the quality of its online business resources.”
As for the cities with the lowest scores for small business friendliness, California, Illinois, Hawaii, Maine and Rhode Island failed to make the grade.
