Wisconsin Saw Large Increase in New Businesses During the COVID Pandemic

Friday, February 10th, 2023 -- 11:01 AM

Wisconsin, like much of the country, saw a surge in new businesses created during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But those businesses have faced challenges in the form of inflation and the ongoing labor shortage. Despite obstacles and uncertainty around the global economy, many of the state’s new entrepreneurs have persevered.

"They are, by-and-large, a very optimistic and positive group," said Missy Hughes, secretary and chief executive of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. "They're excited about what they're doing. They have been impacted by inflation, but they're working through it."

Wisconsin has seen about 500 new businesses form per month since the summer of 2020. That's up from between 300 and 400 per month prior to the pandemic, according to research from University of Wisconsin-Extension based on projections from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Those numbers only account for businesses that hire employees and file payroll taxes, and do not include businesses in which the owner or owners are the sole employees, said Tessa Conroy, an economic development specialist for UW-Extension.

"A lot of businesses, in fact, three quarters or more, operate without any employees," Conroy said. "So, there may be many more businesses that are operating that exceed what we would expect based on pre-pandemic trends. But we just don't see them because we're not tracking them."

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