Peterson highlights improvements to Ohio's business climate

State Senator Bob Peterson (R-Washington Court House) highlighted new signs Friday pointing to continued improvements in Ohio's business climate as a result of legislative efforts in recent years.
 
The year 2015 marks the sixth consecutive year Ohio has set a new record for entities filing to do business in the state and a 40-year low in the number of Ohioans filing for unemployment benefits. 
 
“Since being elected to the Ohio General Assembly in 2010, working toward building a better Ohio has been my primary goal as a Legislator," Peterson said. “Step by step, bill by bill, we have done just that. Ohio is coming back.”
 

[[In-content Ad]]In 2015, Senator Peterson cosponsored legislation cutting the state's business filing fees by 21 percent, making Ohio's $99 filing fee the lowest fee in the Midwest, saving businesses an estimated $2 million annually. Following this effort, 9,746 new businesses registered with the Ohio Secretary of State's office in 2015, exceeding the previous year's record-setting number by 3,971 businesses.
 
The rising number of new businesses has contributed to the 385,000 new private sector jobs created since January 2011. Fewer Ohioans filed for unemployment benefits in 2015 than in any year since 1973. Initial unemployment claims have dropped by 63 percent since the recession ended in 2009.
  
At 4.5 percent, Ohio continues to outperform the national unemployment rate of 5.2 percent.
 
Further steps toward improving Ohio’s business climate include cutting income tax rates to the lowest level since 1982 and continuing the state’s 75-percent deduction on the first $250,000 of income for small businesses, which is supplemented by the creation of a 3-percent flat tax for small businesses earning more than $250,000.