Roosevelt Campus Network 10 Ideas Competition: Economic Development

One-Stop City Websites Are Next Step In Business Creation

• Blake Falk
• in
• Business,
• Entrepreneurship
• Add articles like this to my dashboard
  Follow this Topic
• 12 months ago

Bloomberg's NYC Business Express: One-Stop City Websites Are Next Step In Business Creation

Share on Facebook

Municipalities should employ one-stop websites that combine the functions of multiple city agencies and lower the barriers to establishing a new business. 

The aftermath of the Great Recession left the U.S. economy with 8.75 million lost jobs, and job growth remains an integral part of the current economic recovery. While job growth continues at a tepid pace, small businesses have grown rapidly and have led job gains for seven consecutive months since June 2011. However, municipal, state, and federal bureaucratic barriers weigh more heavily on small businesses than on larger firms. Many of these costs derive from a lack of resources as compared to larger firms, and the most severe costs arise when small businesses are first established and most likely to grow. 

In light of these obstacles, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg championed NYC Business Express, an e-government project dedicated to creating a one-stop website for new and current business owners. Released in 2005, it created a centralized tool for filing for permits, licenses, and incentive programs for numerous city agencies. Since its inception, 22,000 accounts have been created, and the site has received 500,000 visits. Boston, San Francisco, and Newark have consequently contacted New York City to create similar websites. 

Analysis 

Consider an entrepreneur in New York City. She will typically be required to interact with upward of twenty separate city agencies, such as the Business Integrity Commission and the Department of Environmental Protection, which often require the services of a lawyer. Consequently, the cost-per-employee is markedly higher. In 2004, federal regulation cost $7,647 for firms with fewer than 20 employees and $5,282 for firms with more than 500 employees. Part of this disparity in costs can be explained by the economies of scale that larger businesses enjoy. Herein lies the problem. New small businesses do not possess the vast resources that larger firms do, especially in terms of legal services. Consequently, the structural, financial, and time-related barriers faced by smaller entrepreneurs discourage new business establishment. 

One-stop websites such as NYC Business Express have accordingly experienced a warm reception from entrepreneurs.11 However, the cost of implementing such a program remains a point of contention. NYC Business Express required $27.4 million to develop. 

Additionally, different municipalities have different sets of regulations and agencies related to business creation, so a program like NYC Business Express cannot necessarily be replicated at little expense. 

The initial requirements of developing a one-stop site are nevertheless offset by the accounting and time benefits. It has allowed for cuts in administrative hours as more transactions are completed online instead of at brick-and-mortar agencies. The convenience of 24/7 access to permits, regulations, and incentive programs, as well as a more entrepreneur-friendly environment for small businesses, reduce the time-related costs to starting a new business. 

Next Steps 

Because small businesses are exposed to the bureaucratic costs of establishing a new business, local organizations such as chambers of commerce or small business associations must compel municipal governments to instigate this mutually beneficial initiative. Given the current lukewarm employment situation, streamlining the process of small business formation through the creation of one-stop e-government websites will be a successful venture that municipal governments can employ to reduce the costs entrepreneurs face and allow small businesses to continue creating jobs. 

Sign up to join the discussion

The Debaters

How America Can Avoid Another Sub-Prime Mortgage Crisis
By Andrew Terrell

An American youth studying International Economics and Political Economy.…

Financial Access Initiative Attempts to Provide 2.7 Billion People With Financial Services
By Erika Solanki

Graduated UCLA summa cum laude in March 2012, with departmental honors and the college honors program with a BA in International Development (South Asian concentration) and minor in Pub…

America Should Give Tax Breaks to U.S. Businesses in China
By Nikita Shamdasani

First-year at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Double majoring in International Studies and Political Science, minoring in Business. …

How to Spark Small Business Growth in America
By Melia Ungson

Melia is a Junior at Yale University studying global affairs with an emphasis in development. She is particularly interested in economic and environmental issues related to development.…

Why the Fed Should Initiate a New Round of Quantitative Easing
By Ben Mabie

I'm a Proletarian Studies Major at the University of California, Santa Cruz. I have strong doubts about policy discussions that happen in a world divorced from the social struggles…

Wall Street and University Partnership Would Decrease Unemployment
By Mohammed Hoque

…

Bloomberg's NYC Business Express: One-Stop City Websites Are Next Step In Business Creation
By Blake Falk

…

Economy Would Improve With Implementation of Economic Reserve Corps
By Grayson Cooper

Grayson is a Senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, pursuing a Interdisciplinary Studies major on Educational Entrepreneurship. His interest in education stems from …

Farms on Prisons Will Reduce National Prison Budget
By Kyleen Breslin

Recent graduate from Colorado College currently living in Berkeley working for Grassroots Campaigns…