urbanSTL

I still recall the frustrations of small business owners from Jack Dorsey's 'Let's Talk' event at the Casa Loma back in the fall.

https://www.stlbeacon.org/#!/content/32 ... alk_083013

Pete Wissinger admits he was “scared to death” when he saw a letter from the government informing him and his wife Kaylen that they had neglected to pay a special city tax on their new bakery business. They wondered how serious the problem was. Then they did the math.

They owed a dollar.

“In order to drive and park at city hall, it cost more than to pay this tax,” chuckled Wissinger. “For them to mail us two letters telling us we owed this dollar, they were almost losing money.”

The evening’s deepest discussions, and biggest applause lines, came toward the end when participants discussed their frustrations with bureaucracy. Carey felt the city might focus too much on larger developments.

Carey also told of having to go through five inspectors in a day just to get his establishment up and running. Worse, he said that there was no true one-stop-shop for potential business owners to find out upfront what they face. Instead, storefront entrepreneurs endure a lengthy series of piecemeal requirements and surprise expenses from zoning to plumbing which often pop up partway through the process with little warning.

“What I would say is we need more transparency early on so that the people who are taking the risks understand those risks, can budget for those risks and carry through those risks,” he said.

and, importantly:

Still, despite the challenges, all the panelists seemed happy to be in town. Schwartz commented on the low cost of living. Carey noted the city’s growing demographic of younger professionals.

Most of all, he said, it’s a town where you can build something special.

-RBB

rbb wrote: Worse, he said that there was no true one-stop-shop for potential business owners to find out upfront what they face. Instead, storefront entrepreneurs endure a lengthy series of piecemeal requirements and surprise expenses from zoning to plumbing which often pop up partway through the process with little warning.

Maybe he should do a bit research...if he did he would find out about
https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/d ... Center.cfm
Business Assistance Center
What does the BAC do?
The Business Assistance Center (BAC) facilitates the licensing and permitting of businesses and act as the ombudsman for the City business community.

Opening or Expanding your Business?
SAVE TIME AND ENERGY by contacting the Business Assistance Center (BAC) for the licensing and permitting of your new or expanding business: (314) 622-4120

With one telephone call you can:

Access information needed to open your business in the City of St. Louis.
Receive by mail all appropriate applications for:
Occupancy permits
Home Occupation Waivers
Business Licenses
Contractor's Licenses
Building Permits
And More

Return forms and fees by mail or in person to the BAC office in Room 421, City Hall, 1200 Market Street and a BAC Specialist will process the applications for you!!!

Obtain a Business License
Review the requirements and fees for over 125 types of business licenses and download this information at the License Collector's Web Site

Obtain a Federal Employer Identification Number
Information on applying for an Employer Identification Number (EIN) is available as part of the IRS Web Site [www.irs.gov].

Obtain a Missouri Sales Tax Number
Application for your Missouri Sales Tax Number may be made by calling (314) 877-0177 or visiting the Missouri Department of Revenue at 3256 Laclede Station Road Suite 101, St. Louis, MO 63143. Or visit dor.mo.gov/tax/business [www.dor.mo.gov]

Obtain a Home Occupation Waiver
If you operate a business in your home, you need a Home Occupation Waiver. The Home Occupation Waiver allows an individual to operate a business out of their home under certain circumstances. For more information, please contact the City of St. Louis Building Division Zoning Section at (314) 622-3666.

Fictitious Name Registration/Articles of Incorporation
You may apply for the Fictitious Name Registration and Articles of Incorporation by contacting the office of the Missouri Secretary of State at (314) 340-7490 or by visiting the local office in the Old Post Office Building, 815 Olive Blvd, Suite 210, St. Louis, MO 63101. The Missouri Secretary of State [www.sos.mo.gov] maintains a Forms Web Page [www.sos.mo.gov] where you can obtain information and registration forms.

Contact Information
Phone: (314) 622-4120

Hours:
Monday through Friday
8am-5pm

Address:
1200 Market , Room 421
St. Louis, Missouri 63103

dbInSouthCity wrote: Only red tape at city hall is the ego of the alderman. I have many more stories of almost all of them holding up projects for no actual reason

Anthonino's wanted to expand and the alderman there held up the building permit for month plus, at the end I just said f it, there is nothing in the zoning code that's this doesn't comply with and approved it.

The Business Assistance Center sounds like a nice solution for city businesses. However, is it of much help when aldermen can hold building permits whenever they feel like it?

goat314 wrote:Many of the perceptions people have about St. Louis being slow, backwards, not progressive etc. is really old talk now.

I appreciate your positive attitude and your enthusiasm for St. Louis. However, the more I read the 'State of Downtown' thread, the more I think it only reinforces the perception that St. Louis is slow, backwards, and not progressive.

threeonefour wrote:

dbInSouthCity wrote: Only red tape at city hall is the ego of the alderman. I have many more stories of almost all of them holding up projects for no actual reason

Anthonino's wanted to expand and the alderman there held up the building permit for month plus, at the end I just said f it, there is nothing in the zoning code that's this doesn't comply with and approved it.

The Business Assistance Center sounds like a nice solution for city businesses. However, is it of much help when aldermen can hold building permits whenever they feel like it?

goat314 wrote:Many of the perceptions people have about St. Louis being slow, backwards, not progressive etc. is really old talk now.

I appreciate your positive attitude and your enthusiasm for St. Louis. However, the more I read the 'State of Downtown' thread, the more I think it only reinforces the perception that St. Louis is slow, backwards, and not progressive.

How so? Hundreds of apartments under development in the downtown core and addition of cultural institution is backwards now?

Hundreds of apartments: I agree, that's wonderful news. However, where are the jobs, and where are the retailers?

Other cities have some sort of entity- governmental or otherwise- that works to attract and retain employers and retailers to their downtowns. Mayor Slay is on autopilot, and I don't exactly see a push from the Downtown Partnership either.

Look, I am as excited as everyone else about major projects like The Arcade and Tower at OPOP. I'm also confident that in time, downtown can and will attract major employers and a wider array of retailers. Our leadership is nowhere to be seen, however, so I expect the pace to be slow. I also think the weak advocacy of downtown is 'backwards' and 'not progressive'.

Your mileage may vary, of course.

What's the St Louis aspect of the Ferguson Riots? TBH the whole country is very concerned for St Louis. Also, most of the media is saying Ferguson instead of St Louis.

I am happy they are saying Ferguson I don't want people to think it is all in the city

Redbrickcity wrote:I am happy they are saying Ferguson I don't want people to think it is all in the city

Yeah because we don't need the "most dangerous city in the united states" getting a bad reputation? Ferguson, St. Louis are being used interchangeably. They've said St. Louis. Everyone is in this together.

"Oh no that's in North City." "Just don't go north of Delmar." "Well technically the city owns the airport but it's[...]" "I'm happy they're saying Ferguson" "Yeah its across the river but it's in Illinois"

It's a difficult thing getting the world to see you as you see yourself. Sorry but they've "gunned St. Louis down" and you're not going to like the picture they're using. I understand not wanting St. Louis put in a bad light and I'm as sensitive to it as the next man but we've got an image problem that can't be easily swapped for another. I hope going forward this region can do the work necessary that will look more favorably upon all of us.

This is why we need to teach St. Louis history in our schools because we're embarrassed to read articles like these and would rather bury our heads in the sand. We're not equipped to deal with it because we ignore it. Decades later and can we honestly say St. Louis is measurably any different? Are we where we should be?

Through grade school and high school (at Catholic parochial school) we did not once study St. Louis' history.

Just to reinforce, St Louis is really only being used in description of Ferguson's location. The only city that is having it's reputation absolutely wrecked is Ferguson.

Meanwhile making the rounds this morning is a white cop having a dance battle with a black boy in Kansas City. *sigh* St. Louis, err I mean Ferguson because that's not STL, looks horrible by comparison.

STL does not look horrible. This is felt nationwide in the black community. Now some of the attention will move to LA with another police shooting in S Los Angeles killing unarmed black male.

I think minority hiring discrimination has been allowed to creep back in compared to what it was 20 years ago. That and the recession aftermath have lead to frustration and loss of living standards.

Al Sharpton did not come to St Louis to address St Louis's shortcomings. It is clearly an issue of national concern that found traction in Ferguson.

I can't help but think regional fragmentation is a factor in this either directly or indirectly. Most of the other issues are not locally specific.

arch_genesis wrote:Meanwhile making the rounds this morning is a white cop having a dance battle with a black boy in Kansas City. *sigh* St. Louis, err I mean Ferguson because that's not STL, looks horrible by comparison.

Let us not forget that Kansas City had a major blow to it's reputation of being 'welcoming' after the Jewish Community Center shooting. But no St Louis does not look horrible. Also, the death of Robin Williams has almost completely yanked this story from the headlines.

johndavis wrote:STL does not look horrible. This is felt nationwide in the black community. Now some of the attention will move to LA with another police shooting in S Los Angeles killing unarmed black male.

I don't know what cable stations you have been watching, but STL absolutely does look bad. The Jim Crow-era like policing and police departments, segregation etc. looks bad.

Rachel Maddow cleaned St. Louis County Police Department's clock yesterday. She dissected thoroughly the department's (racism, lawsuits) - as well as the Ferguson Police Dept.'s behavior then linked it all back to the social unrest in the area.

Being dissected like that on a national stage is a terrible reflection on the St. Louis area no matter how you slice it. Terrible.

Not to mention all of the other previous articles - national and international - reporting on St. Louis' racial and class divide prior to this unrest.

St. Louis is a cesspool and looks like Cincinnati did in 2001; and as long as there is denial, St. Louis will continue to die a slow death and lose competitiveness.

Denial is usually not the best elixir.

Arch City is fired up! His adrenaline gland is running overtime...

Arch City, I appreciate your commentary but I think people are really blowing this event out of proportion. 3 million people are not going to get up and leave this region because of a small riot in a marginalized suburb. Sanford (Trayvon Martin), which is a suburb of Orlando, FL is still growing and people are not going to stop moving to Florida because of the Zimmerman case. In fact, I currently live between Florida and St. Louis, way more innocent black teens getting gun down by vigilantes out this way, Florida is booming....unfortunately nobody cares, nobody is saying these events are the end of Florida. More importantly a business or individual that moves to St. Louis is going to move because money is to be made. The fact is St. Louis is struggling because it is a post industrial region that is just really turning the corner into the new economy. Race was a problem when St. Louis was a boomtown. Atlanta has the highest income disparity in the country, yet it booms! I just feel that these issues are a little deeper than a MSNBC news report. Every time I tell people I'm from St. Louis they talk about Nelly, Sweetie Pies, Cardinals, Budweiser, the Arch etc. That is what we are known for.