Oregon keeps strong startup formation
OPB reported that Oregon registered more new businesses than any other state in 2023 and has had more openings than closings over the last decade, suggesting persistent entrepreneurial activity outside traditional coastal hubs. The coverage noted this as a counterpoint to weak national narratives about regional entrepreneurial decline (opb.org).
Oregon kept adding businesses faster than it lost them for most of the last decade, and federal data put the state first in new business registrations in 2023. (opb.org) Richard Acquah-Sarpong, a doctoral candidate in applied economics at Oregon State University, said Oregon’s entries topped exits in most years since 2015 after a stretch from 2012 to 2014 when closures ran higher. He based the analysis on the National Establishments Time Series Database and the United States Census Bureau’s Business Formation Statistics. (opb.org) The basic measure is the entry-to-exit ratio: new establishments divided by closures. A ratio above 1 means the state ended the period with more business locations opening than shutting down. (blogs.oregonstate.edu) Oregon State University’s analysis says Oregon added about 18,950 new private payroll businesses in 2022 and saw roughly 16,600 closures that year. The same post says Oregon posted the fastest growth in new establishments of any state in 2023, citing Bureau of Labor Statistics Business Employment Dynamics data. (blogs.oregonstate.edu) The Census Bureau tracks business applications and formations separately. Its Business Formation Statistics count applications for an Employer Identification Number, while its Business Dynamics Statistics track actual openings, closings, startups and shutdowns. (census.gov, census.gov) That distinction matters in Oregon because the 2023 surge came after the pandemic-era jump in business applications across the country. Acquah-Sarpong said Oregon still stands out because openings have generally stayed ahead of closures since 2015, not just during the post-2020 spike. (opb.org, blogs.oregonstate.edu) State records show Oregon continues to publish monthly and full-year business filing reports through the Secretary of State’s office, which counts new business applications and active filings. Those filings are not the same thing as employer firms with payroll, but they are one of the fastest public signals of startup activity. (sos.oregon.gov, census.gov) Business Oregon economist Damon Runberg told Oregon Capital Chronicle that the state’s entrepreneurial ecosystem “seems to have dried up a little bit” in the last two years. The same report said about 9,500 new businesses registered in 2024, down to about 7,900 in 2025, even though 2025 still ran nearly 1,800 above 2015. (lookouteugene-springfield.com) So the Oregon picture is two-sided: the long run still shows more openings than closings, while the short run shows startup activity cooling from a post-pandemic peak. The next Census and state filing releases will show whether 2025 was a pause or the start of a slower stretch. (opb.org, census.gov, sos.oregon.gov)
