Chattanooga is one of 11 U.S. cities that have committed to streamline their business licensing process with online tools that allow entrepreneurs to find and complete applications to start a business in just one day.
Mayor Andy Berke said last week the city has committed to the national “Startup in a Day Initiative” to streamline its permitting and licensing process “to help small businesses get to work faster, hire more people and grow the local economy.”
The White House launched the initiative last week in partnership with the National League of Cities.
“Through this effort, we will cut unnecessary red tape that keep small businesses from hiring local people and bringing their products to market,” Berke said.
Nick Wilkinson, the deputy administrative for economic development in Chattanooga, said Amazon and other Internet retailers allow customers to conduct business any time of the day and then continually track where their products are in the shipment process. As the self-proclaimed “Gig City” famous for its high-speed Internet links, Chattanooga needs to replace some of its paper forms with online registrations and licenses, Wilkinson said.
“People are becoming accustomed to a much quicker and different user experience,” he said Monday. “We want to remove as many stumbling blocks and delays as we can for people to start and grow businesses in Chattanooga.”
Nick WilkinsonThe White House estimates small businesses generate two of every three new jobs in the United States and employ more than half of the private sector workforce. But entrepreneurs typically spend nearly six days discovering, applying for, and managing licenses and permits, according to a study this year by the World Bank Group.
Wilkinson said he has been meeting with local business owners to learn about their experience with permitting and business licensing.
“We understand time spent on this process can take away from running their business, and we are already evaluating tools and systems implemented in other cities that could work in Chattanooga,” he said.
The Startup in a Day Pledge is to create a faster online permitting tool by the end of 2015. The U.S. Small Business Administration has allocated $1.5 million for competitive seed grants to cities committed to the challenge.
Chattanooga is the smallest city to pledge to be a part of the streamlined licensing process. Other cities that pledged to develop the one-day permitting process by the end of this year include Nashville, St. Petersburg, Fla., Kansas City, Mo., Boise, Idaho, Boston, Denver, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Seattle and Washington D.C.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6340.