“Why should I contact my local economic development office? They can’t do anything for me. I’m already located here. They’re busy trying to bring in new business.”
Sound familiar? I hear it all the time when I talk to owners and managers of small manufacturing companies. When most business people think of economic development organizations, they think of the folks who use generous tax incentives to lure new businesses to their particular community.
True, economic development organizations occasionally do that, or at least they try to. And if your company is planning to create 100 new jobs and commit to a capital investment of $20 million, they’ll probably offer to do it for you, too.
But if your company is like the vast majority of expanding businesses, you’re probably just planning to add on to your existing facility. Perhaps you just plan to add another 20,000 square feet of floor space, or maybe throw up another building right next to your existing plant. Maybe your expansion will only create about 5 or 10 new jobs.
Is there anything that your local economic development organization can do for you?
The answer, clearly, is yes. Among other things, they can help you navigate through the maze of city, county and state offices usually required for any industrial project. Heck, these days, even home improvement projects like a backyard fence or deck require the approval of several city agencies.
Add to that issues of drainage and environmental impact and a dozen other seemingly minor issues and you have your typical small plant expansion project.
If you’re like most business executives, you don’t mind (or, at least, are resigned to the fact) doing what’s required, but you do mind when you eventually find yourself mired in the nightmare of “bureaucratic hell.” You know what I mean: required approval from multiple agencies, often resembling a scavenger hunt; bureaucracies that seemingly have no sense of time or urgency; or unrealistic engineering or environmental requirements that were probably dreamed up during fits of pizza indigestion during an all night legislative session.
Your local economic development organization can help you work your way through the bureaucratic maze of government permitting. Most advertise that they have “one-stop permitting.” Many actually have it. They may not be able to offer you any juicy financial or infrastructure incentives, but they can at least save you some valuable time. After all, they’re set up to offer those services to new businesses. They can, and usually will, provide those same services to existing companies.
After all, waiting for a year on permit approvals in order to add 30 thousand square feet of manufacturing space is enough to drive anyone to distraction … or, if not, possibly to another city or county or state. Your local economic developer knows that, and that’s why they’re usually more than willing to help you navigate the bureaucratic waters.
As Ben Franklin once said, “A penny saved is a penny earned.”
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