Vermont Business Magazine The City of Rutland Vermont was just awarded a national prize from the US Small Business Administration (SBA) in recognition of the City’s recent pledge to streamline and automate its business licensing and permitting process, thus making it simpler and more efficient for a new business to begin operations within the City. Burlington was the only other winner from Vermont. They were among 27 municipalities selected nationally to receive the $50,000 cash prize award. Many of the other award recipients were much larger cities such as Atlanta, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, DC. The total prize money was $1.6 million.
“The streamlining of the current licensing and permitting procedures within the City is just another effort being made to encourage investment and job creation. Receiving this recognition from the SBA, especially in light of the national competition from far larger municipalities, really validates the City’s efforts and emphasizes the fact that Rutland City Vermont is open for business” said Rutland Mayor Chris Louras.
Rutland City has recently established a number of new business incentives to help attract and retain employers and lower start-up cost for new or expanding small businesses. These include the waiver of all initial allocation fees and significant water/wastewater rate discounts for five years to high capacity business users. Rutland has also developed policies allowing businesses significant municipal property tax stabilization in return for investment and job creation.
Most recently an innovative new Business Incentive and Assistance Program was developed which leverages a portion of the City’s tax revenue from its solar power generating plants to fund tangible financial incentives in the form of loans, grants, infrastructure improvements, workforce training, re-location assistance and even free or discounted workspace within the City.
“We continue to work hard to make Rutland City the most business friendly destination in Vermont and this SBA award will further these efforts with an overhaul of our current paper based application process to an electronic web based portal, accessible 24/7” said Brennan Duffy, Executive Director of the Rutland Redevelopment Authority. The plan is to use this opportunity to not only enhance the City’s local processes but to hopefully streamline some of the licensing and permitting requirements and connections at the state and regional level as well. “The litany of requirements to start a new business in Vermont can be confusing and intimidating, we hope to improve the process where we can” Duffy said.
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“Vermont is increasingly recognized for its vibrant startup culture and strong ecosystem for supporting entrepreneurs,” said Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont). “I have been proud to play a role in linking local, state and federal resources available in order to start or expand a small business. I am always delighted when Vermont towns are recognized on the national stage. Rutland City and Burlington, two of our largest centers, are developing new tools and streamlining them with existing ones so that Vermont’s small businesses can better meet their needs to thrive in Vermont. These awards will go a long way to help those small businesses succeed.”
Burlington and Rutland are two of the smallest markets awarded out of the 27 municipalities receiving $50,000, which include Atlanta, Boston and San Francisco.
Startup in a Day is an initiative announced by the President earlier this year designed to help cities and Native American communities streamline the licensing, permitting, and other requirements needed to start a business in their areas, with the goal that an entrepreneur can apply for everything necessary to begin a business within one business day. Cities were encouraged to take a public pledge to commit to these goals, and were invited to apply for funding through two SBA prize competitions.
Rutland Board of Aldermen President William Notte said “the City continues to add arrows to our quiver when it comes to making Rutland the best place to live, work, and start a business. The fewer hoops a start-up needs to jump through the better and I am looking forward to seeing this prize money used to streamline the process and allow Rutland City to continue to grow as a business destination.”
On Burlington's behalf, Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger said: "This prize will further one of the Administration’s and City Council’s important goals for this year, which is examining and improving the permit application and review system in the City of Burlington. Helping businesses start and grow is critical to a vibrant urbaneconomy, and our City needs to be at the forefront of national best practices for permitting. We are thankful to the national and local Small Business Administration offices for bringing much-needed entrepreneurial resources and assistance to Vermont."
The SBA selected the two cities because each identified in their proposals the issues small business owners face and how each could address those issues if selected. More than 100 applications were reviewed.
“When this national competition was first announced, Burlington and Rutland each knew Startup in a Day was in sync with their visions and plans for empowering the startup process. With these awards, these cities will now leverage the latest technology to simplify the pathway to launching a business in Burlington and Rutland,” said Seth Goodall, SBA New England Administrator.
Overseeing the Startup in a Day initiative in Burlington is Nate Wildfire, Assistant Director for Economic Development, and in Rutland is Brennan Duffy.
The SBA has partnered with the National League of Cities, an advocacy organization representing thousands of municipalities, to assist Startup in a Day winners collaborate and share best practices.
Sources: Rutland City, Vermont – August 4, 2015 – The City of Rutland. SBA www.sba.gov/startup