COLUMBUS – Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted announced Friday that 12,082 new entities filed to do business in Ohio last month, an increase of 1,370 when compared to the same month in 2017.

The total makes May 2018 the third-best month on record for new business filings. This comes just one month after April 2018 set a state record for new filings with 12,874 entities formed.

Ohio is currently on track for 2018 to be another record-breaking year for new business filings. Since January, Ohio has seen 56,355 new businesses file, up 3,010 from the same five-month period last year.

In 2017, Ohio finished with 117,429 new businesses registering with the Secretary of State’s office, surpassing the previous record set in 2016 of 105,009. Last year also marked the eighth consecutive year the state has seen a record number of new business filings.

In all, Ohio has seen a rise of 46.3 percent in filings from 2010 to 2017.

From the time Ohio Business Central was launched until the end of May 2018, the Secretary of State’s Office has processed 396,529 online filings. Recently, Husted announced that 80 percent of all new businesses are now started online through Ohio Business Central, which launched in 2013.

In August 2017, Husted announced that 100 percent of all filings needed to start or maintain a business in Ohio may now be submitted online.

Husted stated that May 2018 marked 31 months since he reduced the cost of starting and maintaining a business in the Buckeye State by 21 percent, a change that has saved Ohio businesses over $6.8 million to date.