Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Business.gov Website Expands With New Features

WASHINGTON – Business.gov continues to expand its offerings of resources and tools to help small businesses comply with federal government regulations.

Responding to feedback from its business community users, Business.gov has developed a tool that helps businesses determine their license and permit requirements. The site, at www.business.gov , also has expanded the content and context of the information contained in its Compliance Guides and developed relationships with other government and non-governmental organizations to provide more in-depth compliance resources.

Business.gov’s new "Permit Me" feature provides a single source for obtaining federal, state, and local permits and professional licenses for businesses. While every business in the United States is required to obtain a permit, professional license, or identification number to operate, finding the right license can be a major challenge for potential business owners. Although some states offer assistance to help individuals understand their local permit and license requirements, not all provide federal information.

This information gap results in an additional burden to business owners as they must locate, research and understand federal, state, and local government resources separately and then compile the information to gain a comprehensive understanding of their regulatory requirements. "Permit Me" allows businesses to navigate to a single destination and presents a list of licensing and permit resources across all the federal, state and local domains.


Sounds impressive! Unfortunately, it's, at least at this point, VERY limited, with only about a dozen business categories. If you're dealing with NEW York State entrepreneurs, I'd still direct them to the Online Permit Assistance and Licensing website or have them contact the Governor's Office of Regulatory Reform.

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