The Blog

Cindi Holmstrom, Director of Department of Revenue Cindi Holmstrom, Director of Department of Revenue

06/05/08

Small business is the lifeblood of Washington’s economy. It is our priority to continuously develop and implement new strategies to lower the cost of doing business in Washington and at the same time make targeted investments to promote small businesses and commerce.

The state of Washington just completed its 2008 Small Business Roundtable series which served as a tremendous opportunity for business and government to work together toward an effective partnership.

A coalition of state agencies including the Departments of Revenue, Labor & Industries, Employment Security, Community, Trade, and Economic Development, and others regularly hold these “Open for Business” community forums around the state to seek small business input and provide advice about starting and maintaining a business.

The roundtables serve business owners and managers of companies with fewer than 20 employees, businesses owned by minority groups, and startups and sole proprietorships looking to expand. Feedback and suggestions gathered at the roundtables are reported to Governor Gregoire and used to develop recommendations for action. The agencies were interested in hearing about areas where we are doing well, and where we need to make improvements.

The Department of Revenue continues to get high marks on the accessibility of its web services and its call center, and businesses report that DOR staff are courteous and professional. A reoccurring theme is providing coordinated and timely information for new businesses so they understand their obligations. Businesses don’t want to receive a lot of duplicate information from the three taxing agencies, and want us to work together to streamline what they receive.

A recent joint study found that 93 percent of registered businesses in Washington are small businesses, as defined as having fewer than 20 employees and less than $3 million a year in gross income, and as a group employ twenty percent of the workers in the state.

More information on this study

For more small business information