TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW)-The Secretary of State Kris Kobach shared some uplifting news for Kansas.

Secretary of State Kris Kobach spoke at Memorial Hall Friday to share information on new businesses formations in Kansas.

This is the first time this data has been released to the public. Kansas is at an all time high for new businesses. He says the reasons could be due to the rural opportunity zone by Senate Bill in 198 and the oil boom.

"If you look at the county by county numbers, you'll see that not surprisingly, Johnson County leads the state in terms of new business formations. There are very large numbers of people forming businesses in Johnson County. Second place goes to Sedgewick County and third place goes to Shawnee County, not particularly surprising," said Secretary of State Kris Kobach.

The total number of new businesses for 2012 was 15,008,
the highest annual total on record.