One-Stop Shop Could Help Businesses With State Business

State leaders are looking for an outside vendor to operate an online, one-stop portal to make it easier for businesses to register, file paperwork and make payments across multiple state agencies.

Gov. Mike Pence said the move is meant to ease “the regulatory burden on Hoosier businesses.”

The online system “will help to cultivate a more business-friendly environment, increase efficiency and make it easier for businesses to start up, operate, and grow within the Hoosier state,” Pence said in a statement.

The project is spearheaded by Secretary of State Connie Lawson and is the result of legislation passed by the General Assembly in 2011.

Currently, companies conduct business across a number of state agencies. But the new “Business One Stop” portal will give firms a single point of contact for many of their needs, state officials said.

“A robust, streamlined business development tool allowing Hoosier entrepreneurs to launch their dreams faster is the next level of Indiana’s commitment to foster the pro-growth, pro-jobs atmosphere we have now,” Lawson said in a statement.

“By reducing the burden on small businesses’ licensing process time, this portal has the potential to reduce the cost of doing business with the state and shorten the time from corporate formation to being open for business,” she said. “I look forward to seeing this project’s potential develop as we take on this exciting endeavor.”

The state on Wednesday issued requests for proposal seeking vendors to operate the new system.