To make your business successful, you spend long days dealing with inventory and ordering, shelf stocking, bill paying — it all adds up — and on top of that, you have to comply with multiple state-agency requirements throughout the year. Good news: Beginning in January, a pilot project sponsored by several state agencies will combine the annual license and permit renewals common to convenience stores to test ways to reduce your regulatory burden.

The Small-Retailer Consolidated Renewal Project will combine the annual license/permit renewals for convenience stores into a store-specific invoice to save you time and hassle. The consolidated renewal will cover the annual renewal requirements of the departments of Agriculture and Environmental Quality and the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. The pilot project will take place in Multnomah County south of Burnside Street and throughout Coos, Curry, Douglas, Benton, Lane, Lincoln, and Linn counties.

If you operate a convenience store in these areas, you should have recently received a letter explaining how you can take part in the project. Simply check the box to “opt in,” at the bottom of the letter, put the marked letter in the provided postage-free reply envelope and drop it in the mail. In the spring, you will receive one bill for license/permit renewals for the year from the three state agencies sponsoring the pilot project.

When he took office, one of Governor Kulongoski's primary goals was to streamline regulations for businesses as part of his economic revitalization effort. His goal was to accomplish this without compromising protections for consumers, workers, the environment, and public safety. The governor's executive order created an Office of Regulatory Streamlining within the Department of Consumer & Business Services to coordinate the streamlining initiative and serve as a resource for state agencies.

The Office of Regulatory Streamlining is sponsoring the Small-Retailer Consolidated Renewal project in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, Department of Environmental Quality, and the Oregon Liquor Control Commission.

If you have questions about the pilot project, contact Patrick Allen, manager of the Office of Regulatory Streamlining, (503) 947-7061. If you want to know more about Oregon 's regulatory streamlining initiative in general, visit the web site: www.streamline.oregon.gov.