Mayor Rahm Emanuel proposed on Tuesday a consolidation effort that would reduce the number of business licenses in the city from 117 to 49, which means less red tape, less bureaucracy and less headaches overall.
Emanuel said Chicago's 117 various business licenses is more than Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Atlanta combined.
The move could save small businesses more than $2 million in part because fewer licenses means fewer things entrepreneurs and biz owners can be fined for.
President of the Illinois Merchants Association David Vite told the Sun-Times, “Today, if you own a grocery store, you might have seven or eight licenses and you don’t know every license you need when you’re going into business. This will make it easier for businesses to comply with the law."
In a release from Emanuel, the mayor added, "Cutting this red tape reduces confusion and save business owners time and money that they can spend on growing their businesses and creating jobs."
So businesses get to save money and get operating sooner? Sounds like a win-win.
David Wolinsky is a freelance writer and a lifelong Chicagoan. In addition to currently serving as an interviewer-writer for Adult Swim, he's also a columnist for EGM. He was the Chicago city editor for The Onion A.V. Club where he provided in-depth daily coverage of this city's bustling arts/entertainment scene for half a decade. When not playing video games for work he's thinking of dashing out to Chicago Diner, Pizano's, or Yummy Yummy. His first career aspirations were to be a game-show host.
