By Secretary of State Phil McGrane
Highlights from the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office
August 7, 2026
A Small Team Keeping Up with Big Growth
Starting a new Idaho business is a cause for celebration. It’s the culmination of hard work, an innovative idea, a leap of faith, and high hopes. It’s the ribbon cutting, the first customer, and maybe even the first dollar framed on the wall.
A new business owner may not stop to celebrate a fast filing time for the paperwork that registers, renews, or keeps their business in good standing. But like all the things that build a business, it’s a crucial part of the process, and any slowdown can mean another day a loan, a hiring decision, an expansion, or a new idea has to wait. That’s why our Business Services team has made it their mission to keep Idaho operating at the speed of business.
In practice, it’s five days or less. That’s how long it now takes our office to process most business filings. Just months ago, that same filing took 25 to 30 days. That improvement didn’t happen because filings slowed down. Instead, they’ve continued to grow. It happened because a small team of dedicated public servants refused to accept that long waits were the new normal.
That accomplishment becomes even more impressive when you look at the numbers.
In 2025, our eight-person Business Services team processed more than 640,000 filings, nearly 200,000 more than just five years ago. Every one of those filings represents someone taking a chance on an idea, opening a new location, or investing in Idaho’s future. By every measure, Idaho’s economy continues to grow, and our Business Services team has worked tirelessly to keep pace.
Yet, success has created a bit of a paradox. Last fiscal year, our office returned approximately $1.5 million in excess filing revenue to the state’s General Fund while our eight-person Business Services team processed a record number of filings without adding staff. Every new filing creates both revenue and work. One benefits the entire state. The other lands on eight desks.
It raises a fair question: as Idaho’s business growth shows no signs of slowing, what does it look like to make sure the team processing that growth has the resources it needs? That’s a conversation worth having.
For now, my commitment to the business community is simple: we’ll keep moving at the speed of business so Idaho can compete and our economy can continue to flourish.
Phil McGrane
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About Phil McGrane
Phil McGrane was elected Idaho’s twenty-eighth Secretary of State and took office on January 2, 2023. McGrane served as elected Clerk of Ada County from 2019-2022. McGrane holds a bachelor's degree in philosophy, a juris doctorate, and a Master of Public Administration. As a fourth-generation Idahoan, Phil has dedicated his career to making elections in the state of Idaho accessible, secure and transparent.
