For example, there were between 60,000 and 61,000 new businesses established during the period of January through April in both 2021 and 2022, according to the state.

By comparison, there were 39,000 business created between January and April 2020 — the latter two months likely affected significantly by the unnerving first six weeks of the pandemic.

However, as the pandemic has evolved into a public-health endemic in recent months, two questions arose.

First, would there be the same startup interest?

Or would uncertainty about job security, particularly in the banking, manufacturing and technology sectors amid sluggish consumer demand, stoke increased willingness to carve a new path?

The preliminary answer from the N.C. Secretary of State’s office is that about the same number of North Carolinians are still scratching that startup itch.

“North Carolina’s entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well as new business creation filings remain historically high compared to pre-COVID creations,” Secretary of State Elaine Marshall said. “We recognize that small businesses are the lifeblood of our communities and the foundation of a strong North Carolina economy.”

Marshall said her office is “aggressively looking for ways to help these business owners get across to available resources to help their new ventures become successful.”

Much of the pandemic’s impact on local and state economies has been focused on the overall decline of available workers, particularly those in minimum- to low-wage jobs.

“These business owners are telling us in surveys that they see new opportunities to put money in their pockets and jobs in their communities,” Marshall said. “These are not folks who lost their jobs and have nowhere else to turn.”

A year ago when the Secretary of State’s office released the 2022 business filings, N.C. State economics professor Michael Walden questioned whether the interest in startups was at a peak.

Fast forward to May 2023 and Walden says startups remain an attractive alternative. Walden explained that because of North Carolina’s strong economic growth and nationally recognized business climate, “the state is a natural for people who want to start new businesses.”

Winston-Salem, in particular, is at a near record pace for business startups. That’s not surprising to Mark Owens, president and chief executive of Greater Winston-Salem Inc., which promotes economic development in the city.

“We consistently see Winston-Salem ranking among the best places in the country to start and grow a business,” Owens said.

Owens cited that Wallethub, a national economic research group, determined Winston-Salem to be the best large city for business costs and 13th overall for new businesses.

“We are intentional in creating a collaborative ecosystem that supports small businesses and startups, and this is a key strategy for our economic growth,” Owens said. “Our low barriers to entry and affordable cost-of-living are drawing emerging companies from other U.S. cities and internationally, with particularly strong interest from tech-based businesses and biotech and life science companies.

“Our record new business filings are evidence this strategy is working.” 

Mark Vitner, a retired senior economist with Wells Fargo Securities, speaks from experience when it comes to startups during the pandemic. Vitner founded Piedmont Crescent Capital, which provides economic consulting services to businesses, trade groups and municipalities across the country.

“I personally feel it is a great time to go out on your own,” Vitner said. “The U.S. has the most dynamic economy in the world. It does not simply grow, but is constantly evolving, which creates enormous opportunity for startups. There are always niches that small companies will be able to more quickly fill than larger firms.”

The Secretary of State’s report is only one glimpse into the startup picture, said John Quinterno, principal with South by North Strategies Ltd., a Chapel Hill research company specializing in economic and social policy.

“Businesses that wish to take advantage of the legal form of a corporation or a limited liability entity must register, but sole proprietorships or general partnerships do not,” he explained. “The vast majority of small businesses in the United States, however, are sole proprietorships. This means that the Secretary of State’s estimates only capture a subset of new business formation.”

Quinterno said businesses that choose the corporate or limited liability structures “tend to be entities that have more factors correlated with longer-term success.”

“Shutdowns likely gave people opportunities to reflect on what they want from a job, develop their business ideas and to set aside some potential seed capital from things like economic assistance payments.”

Quinterno stressed that launching a startup remains not for the faint of heart.

“Most new businesses in the United States do fail within several years, and the challenges associated in running a new venture are often much greater than imagined,” he said. “North Carolina is fortunate that it has so many resources and entities that exist to help people launch and grow businesses, but even then, success can be difficult to realize.”

An uptick in business creation filings during an economic downturn or a major employer shakeup is not unusual.

For example, when First Union Corp. bought Wachovia Corp. in 2001, about 1,300 local jobs either were transferred to Charlotte or eliminated over the next 24 months.

Some left the area in pursuit of similar skilled and paying employment.

Small businesses, particularly community banks, gained access to former Wachovia employees who chose to stay.

Others formed small businesses or went in a new direction altogether.

This time around, the availability of federal pandemic relief compensation gave the unemployed or furloughed more time to plot their next move, including a business startup.

“But there is also a component of many individuals becoming fed up with the corporate atmosphere at the top end, especially those in tech and other fields that have come to desire remote work during a time when firms in these sectors are retrenching or are mandating that workers return to the office,” said Zagros Madjd-Sadjadi, an economics professor at Winston-Salem State University.