Find your State's Secretary of State's website, contact information and how to start your business

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Find your State's Secretary of State's website, contact information and how to start your business

If you are trying to start your own business, whether it is a cottage food business, home-based food business or even a regular full-fledged corporation, you will need to contact your state's secretary office state's office to make your business legal. And while there are services like LegalZoom and Nolo.com that complete the paperwork for your (typically $200 to $500) it's pretty easy to do yourself. In most cases, an LLC is the most practical type of business to start, with lower costs and easier to manage. Just go to your state's secretary of states website and use their search box to search for these phrases:

• Starting a business
• LLC
• Limited Liability Corporation
• Then you should find step by step directions about how to file the paperwork. There is usually a fee charged by your state, typically about $100.

You may also need to have your litchen inspected, take training classes or get other information. See these pages:

• State Cottage food laws and requirements
• For links to your local department of health / Health department, see this page.
• Further down this page, you will also find links to each state's department of agriculture.

Each State's Secretary of State's Offices

Just click on your state or territory:

1. Alabama Secretary of State, Phone: 334-242-7200
2. Alaska Secretary of State, Phone: 907-465-2530
3. Arizona Secretary of State, Phone: 602-542-3230
4. Arkansas Secretary of State, Phone: 501-682-1010
5. California Secretary of State, Phone: 916-653-3795
6. Colorado Secretary of State, Phone: 303-894-2251
7. Connecticut Secretary of State, Phone: 203-566-3216
8. Delaware Secretary of State, 302-739-4111
9. District of Columbia Secretary of State, Phone: 202-727-7278
10. Florida Secretary of State, Phone: 904-488-9000
11. Georgia Secretary of State, Phone: 404-656-2817
12. Guam Government Site, Phone: 671-472-7679
13. Hawaii Secretary of State, Phone: 808-586-2727
14. Idaho Secretary of State, Phone: 208-334-2300
15. Illinois Secretary of State, Phone: 217-782-7880
16. Indiana Secretary of State, Phone: 317-232-6576
17. Iowa Secretary of State, Phone: 515-281-5204
18. Kansas Secretary of State, Phone: 913-296-2236
19. Kentucky Secretary of State, Phone: 502-564-2848
20. Louisiana Secretary of State, Phone: 504-925-4704
21. Maine Secretary of State, Phone: 207-287-3676
22. Maryland Secretary of State, Phone: 410-225-1330
23. Massachusetts Secretary of State, Phone: 617-727-9640
24. Michigan Secretary of State, Phone: 517-334-6206
25. Minnesota Secretary of State, Phone: 612-296-2803
26. Mississippi Secretary of State, Phone: 601-359-1333
27. Missouri Secretary of State, Phone: 314-751-1310
28. Montana Secretary of State, Phone: 406-444-3665
29. Nebraska Secretary of State, Phone: 402-471-4079
30. Nevada Secretary of State, Phone: 702-687-5203
31. New Hampshire Secretary of State, Phone: 603-271-3242
32. New Jersey Secretary of State, Phone: 609-530-6400
33. New Mexico Secretary of State, Phone: 505-827-4508
34. New York Secretary of State, Phone: 518-474-4752
35. North Carolina Secretary of State, Phone: 919-733-4201
36. North Dakota Secretary of State, Phone: 701-328-4284
37. Ohio Secretary of State, Phone: 614-466-3910
38. Oklahoma Secretary of State, Phone: 405-521-3911
39. Oregon Secretary of State, Phone: 503-986-2200
40. Pennsylvania Secretary of State, Phone: 717-787-1057
41. Puerto Rico Secretary of State, Phone: 787-722-2121
42. Rhode Island Secretary of State, Phone: 401-277-2357
43. South Carolina Secretary of State, Phone: 803-734-2158
44. South Dakota Secretary of State, Phone: 605-773-4845
45. Tennessee Secretary of State, 615-741-2286
46. Texas Secretary of State, Phone: 512-463-5555
47. Utah Secretary of State, Phone: 801-530-4849
48. Vermont Secretary of State, Phone: 802-828-2386
49. Virgin Islands Secretary of State, Phone: 340-776-8515
50. Virginia Secretary of State, Phone: 804-371-9141
51. Washington Secretary of State, Phone: 360-725-0377
52. West Virginia Secretary of State, Phone: 304-558-8000
53. Wisconsin Secretary of State, Phone: 608-266-3590
54. Wyoming Secretary of State, Phone: 307-777-7311

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida - Georgia

Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland

Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey

New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina

South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Weather in Your Local Area! to verify the weather in your area or at the farm, just enter the zip code OR the city and state (like: "City, ST" (without the quotes!); example: Atlanta,GA) below and press Go: This will open a new window. Just close it when you are done, and you will return here!