COLUMBUS– Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted today announced 10,204 new entities filed to do business in Ohio during February 2017, an increase of 803 entities when compared to February 2016. This makes February the second best month for new businesses in Ohio history, just behind March 2016.
It has also been 16 months since Secretary Husted reduced the cost of starting and maintaining a business in the Buckeye State by 21 percent. As of February 2017, Ohio businesses have saved over $3.3 million.
Earlier this year Secretary Husted announced that 2016 was the seventh consecutive year the state has seen a record number of new entities filing to do business in Ohio (read more). Based off of record-breaking months for both January and February, Ohio is already on track to have another record number of businesses filed in 2017.
A focal point of Secretary Husted’s administration has been to make the process of starting and maintaining a new business in Ohio simpler and more cost-effective for entrepreneurs. In 2013, the Secretary announced his office would overhaul the paper-only filing system with the launch of Ohio Business Central, which allows businesses to be formed through the click of a button and in significantly less time. Since Ohio Business Central was launched, 218,285 entities have been formed online and over 50% of new Ohio businesses are created using the tool.
Secretary Husted has also started a partnership with Google’s “Let’s Put Our Cities on the Map” program to put additional tools for success in the hands of new Ohio entrepreneurs.
Though the most visible role of the Secretary of State is that of chief elections officer, the office is also the first stop for individuals or companies who want to file and start a business in Ohio. While recognizing these numbers can’t provide a complete picture of Ohio’s jobs climate, they are an important indicator of economic activity that Secretary Husted hopes will add to the ongoing discussion of how to improve the state’s overall climate for business.
INFORMATION PROVIDED