New business filings pick up at end of ‘09

Monday, January 10, 2011

While the total number of new New Hampshire business filings in 2009 was down from the previous year, the drop was relatively small and in December there was a pretty substantial increase in filings.

Slightly more than 35,000 new business filings were reported to the secretary of state’s office in 2009 -- a slight drop-off from the 36,000 filed in 2008 and the 37,000 filed in 2007. However that’s still substantially off 2006 peak, when more than 42,000 corporations, LLCs and trade names were filed.

The year ended on a positive note, with 2,614 filings reported in December – a nearly 8 percent increase from December 2008, when the economy appeared to hit rock bottom. And the number of filings in December 2008 was 15 percent higher than December 2007.

The December 2009 increase in new business filings came despite a 11 percent drop-off in limited liability company filings, perhaps in response to all the publicity about changes in the state’s interest and dividends tax to cover LLC distributions.

There were 257 corporate filings last month, a 36 percent increase. The number of trade names – primarily sole proprietorships – filed in December stood at 1,297, a 27 percent increase. – BOB SANDERS/NEW HAMPSHIRE BUSINESS REVIEW

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