Indiana Secretary of State encouraged by record number of new business filings in 2021

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (Fort Wayne’s NBC) - Indiana saw a record number of new business filings but last month, but retail sales dropped nationwide because of supply chain issues.

Indiana secretary of state Holli Sullivan says she’s proud of the record number of small business that opened last year in Indiana. However, she realizes many of those business and customers had several issues getting what they needed last month because of supply chain issues.

“I can say that our economy is strong and we’re seeing Hoosiers confidence in opening a business,” Sullivan said. “I also know my role as an elected official here in Indiana is to help Hoosier business owners feel confident in developing their own footprint.”

State officials say nearly 100,000 new businesses were registered in 2021. That’s more than a 26% increase from 2020 when Indiana saw nearly 75,000 new businesses registered.

More than 86,000 of 2021′s filings were for businesses based in Indiana. Nearly 10,000 filings were businesses headquartered outside of the state.

Sullivan believes a big reason for that is actually because of the COVID-19 pandemic and people finding new ideas while navigating restrictions.

However, it’s not all good news. Retail sales dropped 1.9% nationally, which experts blame on the omicron variant, product shortages and inflation that damaged consumer confidence.

“Truly it is hard to be a business owner right now more than ever,” Sullivan said. “I know that from my own experience starting a business before I ran for office, but now we’re in different times with different challenges. I think Hoosiers are resilient.”

Sullivan says it’s her goal to do what she can to help businesses succeed across Indiana.

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