T-L Photo/CARRI GRAHAM ALEX PAVLOFF, eastern Ohio regional liaison for the Ohio Secretary of State's Office, speaks with Harrison County Board of Commissioners during Wednesday's morning meeting.

CADIZ — New business filings have remained steady amid the pandemic, according to the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office.

The OSSO has two primary functions — it oversees the state’s election and helps businesses register in the state. Alex Pavloff, eastern Ohio regional liaison Ohio Secretary of State’s Office, met with the Harrison County Commissioners Paul Coffland, Don Bethel and Dale Norris to discuss both functions within the county.

Pavloff said new businesses filings have continued amid the pandemic.

“Despite everything we’ve seen with the global pandemic, we have not seen a slowdown on business filings. People are still going out there, taking a little risk and starting businesses. This is exciting. It’s not a perfect economic indicator, but we seem to be on a similar pace to where we were last year, which was a record year for business filings in the state of Ohio,” he said.

Pavloff said the office is encouraging farmers to pursue a limited liability company or LLC. A LLC is a business entity for profit or nonprofit purposes which combines elements of partnership and corporate structures, according to the OSS.

“We are encouraging farmers, especially family farmers, to pursue LLC’s. The LLC’s, limited liability company, limits your liability so if something goes arye and you find yourself dead or the subject of civil action, you’re not losing the family home on top of the family farm,” he said.

The OSS also assists board of elections conduct elections in all 88 counties in the state. Through federal funding, the office has helped increase cyber security infrastructure for elections throughout the state, Pavloff said.

“Any federal funding we receive we want to get it out to the counties as quickly as possible. We’ve got two buckets of federal funding that we’ve deployed over the past couple of years,” he said.

Pavloff said the office has appropriated around $90,000 in funding to aid Harrison County in cyber security upgrades.

“I believe we have appropriated $90,000, or are in the process of appropriating $90,000 from the Help America Vote Act to Harrison County – $50,000 in 2019 for cyber security upgrades and $40,000 this year,” he said.

The office is hoping to use Coronavirus Aid, Relieff and Economic Security, or CARES Act, funding to help boards of elections conduct elections amid the pandemic.

The OSSO appropriated approximately $25,000 in funding toward the April election and will appropriate another $25,000 toward November’s election, Pavloff said.

“We’ll see what transpires with federal legislation in the next couple of months, but it’s our philosophy that if there are federal appropriations that come to our office to help counties conduct elections, we want to get them out to the counties as quickly as possible. The county boards of election are the building blocks of elections in Ohio,” he said.