Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted last week announced 8,624 new entities filed to do business in Ohio during January 2016. This is 1,119 more businesses than filed during January 2015 when 7,505 entities were formed.
Last month, Secretary Husted announced that 2015 marked the sixth consecutive year the state has seen a record number of new entities filing to do business in Ohio. In 2015, 97,746 new businesses registered with the Secretary of State’s office, surpassing the previous record set in 2014 of 93,775 new entities by 3,971 businesses. This totals a 21.8 percent increase in filings from 2010 to 2015.
At Secretary Husted’s urging, the state legislature reduced the cost of starting a new business in Ohio by 21 percent in 2015. The cost reduction was made possible by the wise fiscal stewardship that allowed the Husted Administration to spend $14 million less than the previous administration. Now just $99, Ohio is the least expensive state in which to start and maintain a business in the region. The reduction is estimated to save business owners $2 million annually.
Under the leadership of Secretary Husted, the state has made it possible for more than 80% of all filings to be done online with one in two companies now being established electronically through the Secretary of State’s Ohio Business Central service. This includes 100 percent of Ohio-based businesses.
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.
