Tuesday, March 12, 2019 | 2 a.m.
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For Nevada Lt. Gov. Kate Marshall’s family, the Texaco service station that her father owned and operated during her childhood was important on more than one level.
Not only did it provide income, Marshall said, but it represented a big step toward achieving the American dream. Her dad had been a longshoreman and a Teamster before going into business himself, which offered an opportunity to climb the socioeconomic ladder.
“For us, it meant we would move toward becoming white collar,” Marshall said. “It was a big deal for us to make this transition.”
Now, she and Gov. Steve Sisolak want to put the state government’s resources behind entrepreneurs like Marshall’s father.
Marshall has proposed creating the Office of the Small-Business Advocate, which would provide entrepreneurs with a road map to regulatory processes and assistance as they navigate the system.
Meanwhile, Sisolak’s budget includes funding to start the Governor’s Office for New Americans, which would help immigrant families — including business operators — establish themselves in their communities by providing information on educational opportunities, social and financial services, governmental processes and much more.
“We want a place they can turn to and ask, ‘What’s available at CSN or at UNLV?’ or ‘What can I do in terms of bidding on state contracts or local contracts if I’m a small business?’ or ‘How do I go about opening a restaurant or a manufacturing facility?’ ” Sisolak said.
These are both terrific initiatives that, in some cases, would work in tandem to help families and boost the state economy.
The investment of state funds is modest — $184,000 in the 2020 fiscal year for the Office of New Americans, and $105,000 for the Office of the Small-Business Advocate.
That would be money well spent, not just for incoming families and bootstrap business operators but in maintaining financial and cultural vibrancy in our communities.
Think of how helpful it would be for the parents of an immigrant family who may speak English as a second language to be able to call one number for information on enrolling their children in school, registering a vehicle, signing up for utility services and getting information on business licensing requirements.
The more we can help our immigrant families get on their feet, the sooner they can root themselves and start contributing to our economy. And yes, this includes undocumented immigrants who are living peacefully here and are Americans in virtually every way except having citizenship status. Those individuals will be welcome to call the Governor’s Office for New Americans.
For small-business operators, a key benefit of Marshall’s initiative is in time and efficiency in dealing with bureaucratic processes. For many upstart business operators, the 24/7 demands of getting a business off the ground leave little time to deal with the licensing, inspections, etc., that come with the process.
Marshall knows that firsthand.
“My dad worked at the station every day, including Christmas,” she said. “We lived a half-mile away, and I would carry his thermos and his dinner to his service station. At 6 years old I was doing that.”
Marshall said the lieutenant governor’s office was ideally positioned to assist new business owners. The advocacy role is based on a model that has been launched successfully in several states, she said.
“We don’t have a vested interest in any particular agency,” she said. “We’re not involved in business licenses, taxation, mortgage lending, real estate or anything like that. So we can represent the business. And when we call, because we’re another entity within the state, we get our call returned and we can have a constructive conversation.”
Another key function of the office is to troubleshoot the bureaucratic process by inviting business operators to share their concerns about it, then working with lawmakers to streamline systems and smooth out bumps.
Although businesses can already get help from the state’s Small Business Development Center and similar services provided by the Nevada System of Higher Education, Marshall said the advocacy function in her initiative set it apart.
An example came recently when a mortgage lending company that wanted to locate in Nevada found out about the office and mistakenly thought it was already operating. The company called Marshall’s office saying it had been trying for 30 days to reach a state office to start its licensing process, but hadn’t received a call back.
It turned out to have been an unavoidable problem stemming from staff turnover, Marshall said. But her staff worked with the Nevada Department of Business and Industry to get help, and as a result the company got its license in a week.
“That means that they’re hiring people in Reno and they’re hiring people in Las Vegas,” she said.
That’s great news. And with small businesses making up the vast majority of businesses in Nevada, there are a lot more potential success stories out there.
As Nevada legislators consider the budget proposals coming from Sisolak and Marshall, they should give these offices a thorough and constructive discussion.
Both would make government more responsive to the people of Nevada, which is an admirable objective.
