(NewsNation) — New business applications have surged across the Mountain West and parts of the Midwest.
Colorado led all states with a 115% increase in new business applications when comparing Dec. 2022 to Dec. 2023, according to Census Bureau data. North Dakota came in second (+37.7%) followed by Iowa (+33.7%) in third.
Colorado saw nearly 22,000 new business applications filed in Dec. 2023 versus 10,200 during the same month the year prior.
Population trends likely play a role, but so could policy.
In July 2022, Colorado temporarily lowered the cost of filing for a new business from $50 to $1 through mid-2023. The state also offered nearly $1.5 billion in incentives to attract new business, although most of that is untouched.
In North Dakota, the total number of new business applications jumped from 528 in Dec. 2022 to 727 in Dec. 2023, which shows how slight increases in low-population states can lead to big year-over-year gains in percentage terms.
Meanwhile, southern states like Georgia (-9.9%), Louisiana (-8.6%) and Mississippi (-6.4%) had the largest year-over-year decline in growth, census data showed.
A separate analysis by the Economic Innovation Group tells a slightly different story about the Southeast. Since 2019, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina are among the states with the fastest growth in new business applications among likely employers. In other words, last year’s slowdown doesn’t negate a broader four-year trend.
Nationally, there were a record 5.5 million new business applications filed in 2023, according to Census Bureau data.
The latest uptick marks the continuation of a trend that started during the pandemic when new business applications skyrocketed.
Last year, 37% more business applications were filed by likely employers than in 2019, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Compared to 2019, the sectors that saw the largest increases in 2023 were accommodation and food services (+66%), followed by retail trade (+55%) and health care and social assistance (+45%).
