EDITORIAL: Rankings show a boost for business

As Nevada continues digging out from the Great Recession, there have been some encouraging signs over the past couple of weeks. On July 11, the Review-Journal’s Alexander Corey reported that Nevada got out of the basement on CNBC’s annual report on the best states for business, jumping from a dismal No. 47 up to a bit more respectable No. 29. That news came on the heels of a July 8 report from the Review-Journal’s Wesley Juhl that Thumbtack.com — a website catering to small-business professionals and customers — rated the Silver State 14th in its annual small business survey.

The CNBC analysis noted that, while Nevada still struggles in rating 49th in education (up one spot from 2013), the state made a huge leap in economy — from a rock-bottom 50th to 21st — and moved from 39th to a tie for 15th in access to capital. Nevada also made noteworthy gains in cost of doing business (up five spots to 25th), infrastructure and transportation (from 30th to a tie for 19th), quality of life (from 47th to a tie for 35th), and technology and innovation (from 42nd to 35th).

Thumbtack’s small-business survey was drawn from responses of about 13,000 professionals across the country, who graded their home states on a variety of issues. Nevada received an A-plus in ease of hiring new workers and for having a friendly tax code, and earned an A for small-business-friendly environmental and zoning regulations. The state got a B for ease of starting a business.

This is all good news for a state that desperately needs it, but these gains could be lost come November, if Question 3 on the ballot gets approved by voters. The Education Initiative — known to many as the margins tax — would be a killer for businesses statewide, with the 2 percent levy siphoning up to $750 million annually out of the economy. We’re just beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Let’s not turn that into an oncoming train.