Rep. Crouch's bill promoting entrepreneurship heads to Governor's desk STATEHOUSE - State Rep. Suzanne Crouch (R-Evansville) authored House Bill 1006, which would set up a one-stop-shop within the Secretary of State's Office for Hoosiers to simply the process of setting up a new or existing business in Indiana. They would have the opportunity to register with state agencies and obtain all the necessary permits and licenses required for the business. The bill would promote entrepreneurship and small business growth, which falls directly into Strengthen Indiana plan to promote Hoosier job creation. HB 1006 passed through the House and Senate unanimously and will now head to the Governor's desk to be signed into law. "More than two-thirds of jobs in Indiana come from small business owners and we want to help through the process," said Rep. Crouch. "If we can simplify the process and not make them register with multiple state agencies and fill out numerous forms we can encourage more new businesses and therefore create more jobs in Indiana." HB1006 would also require the Indiana Department of Education, in conjunction with the Commission for Higher Education (CHE) and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, to develop curriculum guides for high school entrepreneurship classes based on successful entrepreneurship practices. Furthermore, the bill would require the CHE to inventory entrepreneurship programs in state universities and post them on the commission's website for use by students. "If we promote and instill an entrepreneurial spirit in children now we can help provide the necessary skills to build businesses and allow Indiana and our economy to thrive. We want to foster that spirit and create jobs not only for today but for the future, as well." Other states like South Carolina already have a one-stop-shop in place. The South Carolina Business One Stop website has been used to create over 30,000 businesses and has saved users over $18.5 million. Furthermore, it cut the wait time for permits, licenses and other registrations in half, and 97 percent of users said that they would gladly use the website again. In the past, the manufacturing sector has been a large source of jobs in Indiana. As the state continues forward, however, Hoosier graduates will continue to have fewer job opportunities unless we make a highly educated workforce an integral part in bringing high paying jobs to the state. -30- |
