Gov. Gianforte and Secretary Jacobsen talking with Granite Peak Athletics Co-Founders Nolan Gilbert and Connor Moore. (Courtesy photo)
Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen announced Thursday that Montanans registered a record number of new businesses with her office in 2024.
Speaking at a press conference with Rep. Gov. Greg Gianforte, Jacobsen reported more than 63,814 new businesses filed in 2024, nearly 4,000 more than in 2023.
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.
“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 in a press release. “We’re proud to support our local Montana businesses as they begin their journey in our office.”
“More Montanans are working than ever before and our entrepreneurs continue to create new businesses at record levels,” Gianforte said in the release. “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.”
According to the governor’s office, this is the fourth straight year of record new business registrations in the state. In 2021, roughly 50,000 new businesses were registered, approximately 54,000 were created in 2022 and nearly 60,000 in 2023.
The governor and secretary held their joint press conference at Granite Peak Athletics in East Helena, which opened up last fall.
“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,” Granite Peak Athletics Co-Founder Nolan Gilbert said. “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,” Nalaki, a freshman on the East Helena High School Vigilante Baseball team, said, according to the release.
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.
The Secretary of State’s office puts out the Montana Business Economic Report, providing valuable data 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.