Establishing a new business in Utah used to be an uphill battle, but now the Internet is offering a faster and better solution. In the past, Utah companies were required to file documents with up to seven different government entities in order to be officially registered, and the process often took weeks or months to complete. With the new OneStop Business Registration service provided by the state of Utah’s new official business portal (www.business.utah.gov), businesses can now register electronically with the necessary federal and state agencies and initiate business licensing procedures with local government in about an hour.

“As a former business leader, I understand that time equals money,” said Governor Mike Leavitt. “Utah’s new OneStop Business Registration will fuel Utah’s economic engine by getting businesses up and running faster than ever before. We’ve taken a complicated and time-consuming offline process and turned it into a fast and easy-to-understand online service, which is exactly how eGovernment should be supporting our state.”

Utah’s OneStop Business Registration is the first eGovernment service of its kind that integrates key business-related transactions from federal, state, and local government into a single seamless process. The system allows new businesses in Utah to simultaneously register and initiate permit processes with the Internal Revenue Service and five state agencies (the Utah State Tax Commission, Labor Commission, Department of Commerce, Department of Workforce Services, and the Department of Environmental Quality). Those starting a business in any of Utah’s three largest cities (Salt Lake City, Sandy City, and Provo) can also initiate the local jurisdiction business licensing process while completing the above requirements with the State and Federal government. However, new businesses outside these jurisdictions are not prevented from taking full advantage of the core services of the OneStop system.

“With OneStop Business Registration, we’re putting our money where our mouth is,” said Val Oveson, Utah’s Chief Information Officer. “One-stop shop’ can be a cliché, but I’m confident that we are applying the concept to something that creates extraordinary value to the business community. With this new service, businesses need to visit only one Web site to complete the registration process. In many cases, we will save new companies in Utah many hours of waiting for paperwork to be processed, and that benefits businesses, consumers, and our state’s economy.”

According to Klare Bachman, Executive Director of the Department of Commerce, “We believe OneStop will revolutionize the online business registration. No other state offers the degree of vertical integration available with Utah’s OneStop Business Registration.”

The launch of OneStop Business Registration coincides with the introduction of a new state Web site to support Utah’s business community at www.business.Utah.gov. “During the last 12 months, we’ve reached out to Utah businesses to understand their needs,” continued Oveson. “We learned that business users need access to different online services than citizens, and it made sense to design a separate portal specifically for the private sector.”

Utah’s business portal features more than 30+ interactive services, including a Uniform Commercial Code search and filing, annual business registration renewal and a business entity search. The business portal also provides a commerce-specific search engine, dynamic news content, and navigation that focuses on key processes during the life cycle of a business, including “Running a Business,” “Relocating a Business,” and “Closing a Business.”

The launch of the new business.utah.gov portal comes on day 548 of Utah’s 1000-Day Economic Plan. A key component of the plan is promoting government services online, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

Contacts: Natalie Gochnour, (801) 538-1503
Kort Utley, (801) 538-1053

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