For the first time, Colorado has more than 600,000 registered businesses in good standing, the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office announced Friday.
The milestone was reached this week when 600,270 businesses were registered and in good standing with the state. On Friday, the state tallied 601,218 good-standing filings, said Lynn Bartels, spokeswoman for Secretary of State Wayne Williams.
That’s up from this time last year, when 557,815 businesses were in good standing. In 2013, the number was 521,795.
“I think it’s a wonderful contrast with what you see nationally, where more small businesses were last year,” Williams said.
State officials credit the online filing system and recent technology improvements such as the offering of online business certification services. Since the implementation of that program Oct. 20, about 500 certificates have been downloaded per day.
The majority of business formation has occurred along the Front Range, but improved online filing capabilities could also reduce barriers of time and distance for businesses across the state, Williams said.
“We try to work really hard to ensure that it’s easy to set up a business in Colorado,” he said. “You can do it right online, it doesn’t take a lot of time to do it.”
Alicia Wallace: 303-954-1939, awallace@denverpost.com or @aliciawallace
