Montanans created about 64,000 businesses
Governor’s Office
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 Wednesday morning to announce the news at Granite Peak Athletics in Helena, one of 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,” said Governor Gianforte. “This success is the result of our commitment to create an environment where hardworking Malitans thrive and businesses thrive. Thanks to our pro-jobs policies, we reached another place 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 deliberate efforts have led to another record year for new business creation,” said Secretary Jacobsen. “We are proud to support our local Montana businesses as they begin their journey to our office.”
Governor 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 registrations in Montana, beginning with the governor and secretary’s first year in office in 2021. Nearly 50,000 new businesses were registered that year, while nearly 54,000 were created in 2022 and nearly 60,000 were created in 2023.
Celebrating the announcement, the governor and secretary visited Granite Peak Athletics to celebrate the new business that opened in October and tour the indoor facility.
“We’re able to give kids an avenue to grow in their athletic abilities, but more importantly, develop their life skills in this place and a safe environment to train in,” said the co-founder of Granite Peak Athletics, Nolan Gilbert. “It’s been fantastic to be a bigger part of this community of our young athletes.”
“This facility has really helped me improve because there’s nowhere to go to play baseball in Montana in the winter. So this facility gives us a place to come in and play and just generally improve,” said Nalaki, a freshman on the East Helena Vigilante High School Baseball team.
Recruiting job-creating businesses to Montana to create greater opportunities for Montanans is a top priority of the Gianforte administration. Since Governor Gianforte took office, he has reformed the state’s tax code to encourage business investment and job creation.
Under Secretary Jacobsen’s leadership, the Office of the Secretary of State has increased efficiencies, including the online business filing system, which reduces review and processing time by SOS staff. Businesses now enjoy 24/7 access to their records, records and documents.
In addition to the efficiency gains, Secretary Jacobsen cut registration fees for new Montana businesses in half, completely eliminated several other fees, and waived the 2024 and 2025 Annual Report filing fee for all Montana businesses that file by the 15 April.
Valuable data on the health of Montana’s business economy is provided through the Secretary of State’s modern, user-friendly Montana Business Economic Report. According to the report, April had the highest number of new businesses created in 2024, with nearly 6,000 registered 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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