RALEIGH – The rate of new business growth in North Carolina has been torrid during the first half of 2022, according to North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine F. Marshall.

So far, between the first of the year and June 30, about 93,000 new businesses were started in North Carolina, according to a statement released Tuesday by the North Carolina Secretary of State’s Office.

That’s 47,000 in the first quarter and 46,000 in the second quarter, the second-most and third-most business creations during any quarter on record, the statement noted.

During the same months in 2021, about 96,000 businesses were formed in the state, a record.  Throughout the entire calendar year of 2021, the state saw a record 178,300 new business formations, WRAL TechWire previously reported.

That pace of growth led a representative of the U.S. Small Business Association to call the rate of new business growth “pretty incredible” earlier this year.

“While we have seen a slight moderation to the blistering pace we set last year, entrepreneurs over the last 18 months continue to create new businesses at a torrid pace,” said Secretary Marshall in a statement.  “These are tens of thousands of dreams becoming a reality each month, and jobs in their communities,” she added.

Small businesses spur the state’s economy, Marshall noted, adding that new business formation can also increase the vitality of local communities across the state.

North Carolina’s rural counties seeing double-digit growth in new businesses

Rural areas seeing new business growth, too

In June, Marshall spoke to a group of economic development professionals based across North Carolina, highlighting the importance of new business formation for economic vitality in local communities.

That includes in more rural areas of the state, which Marshall described as “widespread.”

And the Secretary of State’s Office now oversees a program, Rural RISE NC, which launched earlier this year.  The acronym “RISE” stands for “Resources for Innovators, Start-ups, and Entrepreneurs,” according to a statement released by the department in May.

This new initiative “digitally connects new businesses to local, state, and national resources who offer free business planning advice, low-cost loans and help identify markets and develop marketing plans,” according to Tuesday’s statement released by the Secretary of State’s Office.

“We intend to roll out to all 78 counties considered rural by the NC Rural Center,” said Marshall in June.  “It’s off the ground, it’s beginning to work.”

There are 78 rural counties in North Carolina.  The program launched with 14 for the pilot phase, Marshall said in June.

Those were Macon, Lincoln, Scotland, Onslow, Caldwell, Burke, Wilkes, Alamance, Hertford, Sampson, Greene, Harnett, Stanly, and Edgecombe Counties.

Secretary Marshall’s office announced that Robeson County would be added to the initiative on Monday, in a statement.