Business Licenses and Permits

My grandfather always said, if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, chances are, it’s a duck.  I always elicited an annoyed look when I retorted, “What if it walks like a duck, but talks like a goose?
The City Council in the city of Clive, Iowa considered a similar question recently when the …

A recent blog post claimed that 86% of global 100 companies use at least one form of social media, and 75% of U.S. small businesses have a company page on a social networking site.  It’s no surprise, then, that huge increases in business activity in the area of social media have given rise to social …

Back in March we reported on this blog that the City of Fresno, California was launching an amnesty program to encourage unlicensed businesses to become licensed without having to pay penalties.  However, the recent City Council race has shown that the amnesty period was not very successful.  On October 16th, the Fresno Bee reported that …

A city task force in Ogden, Utah is recommending that the city increase business license fees to help support downtown events.  Ogden has a non-profit organization called Downtown Ogden, Inc. that organizes and operates downtown activities such as the local farmer’s market.  According to the Standard-Examiner, task force member Scott Parkinson says that Downtown Ogden, …

Understandably those looking for business licenses in the transportation industry would go to the Department of Transportation or the Department of Motor Vehicles. However, one should not always assume that these departments are the only offices that issue transportation licenses. Those in California may already know first hand that some transportation licenses are issued by …

This past summer was touted as “Recovery Summer” by those in Washington, but it could be argued the economy actually worsened. Across the country jobs were lost and business shut down. In Shelby County, TN, which is home to the greater Memphis area, entrepreneurship dropped in the third quarter compared to the same period one …

Candidates for Nevada Secretary of State are sparring over the Nevada business portal which allows businesses to register their business and apply for a business license in one place.  According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Challenger Rob Lauer thinks the business portal website, which cost $4.5 million to develop, will help businesses, but will allow …

A recent article in the Dalton Daily Citizen featured responses of the two Georgia Lieutenant Governor candidates to a series of questions.  Casey Cagle, the current Lieutenant Governor and the Republican candidate and Carol Porter, the Democratic nominee sounded off on issues from taxes to illegal immigration.  One question of particular interest concerned the collecting …

Like other states, Indiana has business license requirements for a variety of health care facilities. Abortion clinics, ambulatory outpatient surgical centers, birthing centers, hospitals and rural health clinics are just a handful of facilities that require some type of license. Along with the above mentioned, Indiana also has a Home Health Agency Licensing Program that …

After about a three-year hiatus, the City Council of Port Angeles, WA is again considering requiring all business within city limits to obtain a business license. The Council was mulling over a similar proposal in 2007, but decided further study was needed. Currently only certain types of business need licenses, but if the new proposal …