Record 171,000 Businesses Created in Ohio Last Year

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A record 171,073 entities filed paperwork with the Ohio Secretary of State to do business last year, including 13,735 in December alone.

The full-year total is well beyond the previous record, set in 2019 when 130,621 new businesses submitted filings.

“When this pandemic began, a lot of us thought we were going to see a drop off in new business formation,” said Secretary of State Frank LaRose in a statement. “Who would be so courageous and so bold as to go out there and start a small business amidst all of this uncertainty? The answer is Ohio entrepreneurs They’ve been doing what they do best: finding ways to creatively serve a need in the free market.”

December’s total of 13,735 filings was a 51% increase from the previous year.

“These enterprises that are beginning today may be a sole proprietor right now, but maybe in a year they hire somebody and the year after that hire a couple people more,” LaRose said. “That’s the thing that bodes well for the future.”

Photo by Tim Mossholder from Pexels

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.