The approval process has officially been streamlined. (Photo Credit: Daniel*1977)
Claiming the top spot in any competition or survey is incredible. I mean, who doesn’t like to be number one?
Every year, the Chief Executive Magazine comes out with their list of Best/Worst States for Business. For the past two years, 2011-2012, California rounded out the list, coming in dead last. As the business community in California waits for this year’s list, here’s a bit of good news: Governor Jerry Brown just signed legislation to help businesses get started and hire more quickly.
AB 113, provides $1.6 million to the Secretary of State’s (SOS) Office to process a backlog of business filing that’s grown to more than 100,000 in recent months.
“The sooner Californians can form their businesses, the sooner they can put other Californians to work,” said Governor Brown.
“This is great news,” said Frank Flores, founder and partner of Exacta Media and ReVamp Interactive.
Flores recently filed paperwork for another corporation, MomentM, Inc. Right now, he was told it will take 6-8 weeks to process.
“The faster the Secretary of State can move on getting companies set up, the faster jobs will be created in California. As a proud Southern California employer it is imperative to keep the economy moving in the right direction and this bill will help do that. California needs to remain vigilant in its quest to be pro-business and this is a good step forward,” said Flores.
Secretary of State Debra Bowen blamed the delay on budget cuts imposed by the Legislature as well as the cyclical nature of filings.
“Business owners have many steps along the way to opening their doors, and I want to make filings with the Secretary of State one of the fastest steps in the process,” said Secretary of State Bowen. “Having more resources to make that happen will let companies do what they want to do sooner, which is open and run a business.”
The bill, which is effective immediately, will pay for overtime and temp workers and is expected to reduce wait times to between five to ten days by November of this year.
“Business owners are not politicians, and we don’t have time to get caught up in the bureaucratic nonsense, as this stifles growth and innovation,” said Flores. “Time to market is sometimes the difference between winning and losing and this bill will hopefully make an impact.”
While we don’t know if this bill will affect the state’s spot on the CEO magazine list, at least thing’s are looking a little bit brighter for small businesses starting up now.
