Governor Gianforte, Secretary Jacobson Celebrate Record Business Creation in 2024

Governor Gianforte, Secretary Jacobson Celebrate Record Business Creation in 2024

Montanans created nearly 64,000 businesses

• January 15 2025

HELENA, Mont. - Governor Greg Gianforte and Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen today announced a record number of new businesses were created in Montana last year. At Granite Peak Athletics in East Helena, Sec. Jacobsen reported that Montanans registered more than 63,814 new businesses with her office in 2024, surpassing the previous record set in 2023 by nearly 4,000 businesses.

Sec. Jacobsen joined Gov. Gianforte on Wednesday morning to announce the news at Granite Peak Athletics in Helena, one of the nearly 64,000 new businesses created in 2024.

"More Montanans are working than ever before and our entrepreneurs continue to create new businesses at record levels," Gov. Gianforte said. "This success is the result of our commitment to creating an environment where hardworking Montanans prosper and businesses flourish. Thanks to our pro-jobs policies, we hit another home run in business creation last year."

"By cutting red tape, adopting pro-business policies, and working closely with Montana's business community, we've made it easier than ever to do business in our great state. These intentional efforts have led to another record-breaking year for new business creation," Secretary Jacobsen said. "We're proud to support our local Montana businesses as they begin their journey in our office."

Gov. Gianforte and Secretary Jacobsen talking with Granite Peak Athletics Co-Founders Nolan Gilbert and Connor Moore

This marks the fourth consecutive year of record new business registration in Montana, beginning with governor and secretary's first year in office in 2021. Roughly 50,000 new businesses were registered that year, while approximately 54,000 were created in 2022 and nearly 60,000 created in 2023.

Celebrating the announcement, the governor and secretary visited Granite Peak Athletics to celebrate the new business that opened in October and to tour the indoor facility.

"We're able to give an avenue for kids to grow in their athletic ability but more importantly, develop their life skills in this place and a safe environment to train," said Granite Peak Athletics Co-Founder Nolan Gilbert. "It's been awesome to be a bigger part of this community of our young athletes."

"This facility has helped me improve a lot because there's really no place to go play baseball in Montana in the winter. So, this facility gives us a place to come inside, play, and improve overall," said Nalaki, a freshman on the East Helena High School Vigilante Baseball team.

Recruiting job-creating businesses to Montana to create greater opportunities for Montanans is a top priority of the Gianforte administration. Since Gov. Gianforte took office, he has reformed the state's tax code to promote business investment and job creation.

Under the leadership of Secretary Jacobsen, the Secretary of State's Office has increased efficiencies, including through the online business filing system, which reduces review and processing time by the SOS staff. Businesses now enjoy 24/7 access to their registrations, filings, and documents.

In addition to increasing efficiencies, Secretary Jacobsen cut registration fees in half for new Montana businesses, eliminated several other fees entirely, and waived the 2024 and 2025 Annual Report filing fee for all Montana businesses that file by the April 15th deadline.

Through the Secretary of State's modern, user-friendly Montana Business Economic Report, valuable data is provided about the health of the business economy in Montana. According to the report, April had the highest number of new businesses created in 2024, with nearly 6,000 registering with the Secretary of State's Office

The Montana Business Economic Report can be viewed on the Secretary of State's website here.

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