Booklet helps businesses battle city maze

Warrenton, Va., in addition to beautiful views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and an award-winning Main Street Program, is a small, historic community located 40 miles west of Washington, D.C.

Warrenton’s strategic location at the crossroads of U.S. routes 29 and 17 is attractive to a number of industries.

Recognizing the benefits and contributions made by local businesses to the community, the Warrenton Town Council called for an evaluation of the town’s support of businesses. The council appointed a committee in 1993 to review the town’s regulations and practices as applied to the businesses in the community.

The group was asked to evaluate the impact the regulations have on the ability of the town to sustain or attract businesses and to offer recommendations that could provide better regulatory practices to create a “business-friendly” atmosphere.

Appropriately named the Business Climate Study Group, the committee met monthly for six months to discuss the relationship of the business community with one another and with the town government.

The “Guide to Establishing a Business,” published during the summer of 1994, is one outcome of the group’s report, which was welcomed by the business community.

The guide is the first publication provided by the town that includes specifications about permit approvals. licensing requirements, tax payments and tax reporting procedures.

Samples of the necessary permit and license forms are provided in the guide in addition to a list of useful telephone numbers and a calendar of tax payment deadline dates.

More than 200 of the guides have been given to existing or new business owners, who have responded positively to its simplicity and helpfulness.

While the cost to print the guide was minimal — $450 — the revenue generated from the project exceeded the cost of the guide significantly.

Warrenton provides a clear guide for new business owners to get acquainted with city government and expected expenditures, thus attracting new business that otherwise might not have chosen the town for their new location. The guide has filled a void in the communication between the town government and Warrenton’s business owners.

Questions raised by prospective business owners have proven to be important identifiers of practices that the town can simplify and include in future updates to the guide.

The guide has also been proven to save time and money for the business community and the locality.

Using the information in the guide, business owners have avoided costly mistakes and setbacks by ensuring local, state and federal licenses are current. Thus, not only have current businesses benefited from the town guide, but new businesses are encouraged to make the town of Warrenton their home.