Iowa businesses nearly broke state record for new businesses filed in one month during January, reports Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate. Pate’s office processed 2,195 new business filings last month, nine filings shy of the March 2018 record of 2,204. Nearly 14,000 new business filings were processed by Pate’s office in the first seven months of fiscal year 2019, which runs from July 2018 to June 2019. “Each of the past three years, entrepreneurs launched more than 20,000 new businesses in Iowa. The majority of jobs are created by small businesses and since we also have the lowest unemployment rate in the nation, Iowa is clearly moving in the right direction,” Pate said.