CHARLESTON – Steven Allen Adams, assistant communications director for West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner, said the One Stop Business Center, which opened on Jan. 30 in Charleston, “combines the resources of four state agencies to better help business with registrations, licensing, labor and taxation issues.”
“The center’s convenient location on Charleston’s East End allows a customer to park and walk inside and take care of all their business’s needs all in one stop,” Adams told The West Virginia Record. “Soon, a One Stop Web portal will be live, which will give businesses across the state the same kind of access and convenience.”
Adams said the One Stop Business Center is important to West Virginia residents because those looking to start a business in the state or update paperwork for an existing business must deal with “at least two and as many as four” agencies in the state, including The Secretary of State’s Office, the state tax department, the Division of Labor and Workforce West Virginia.
As a result, the One Stop Business Center aims to add convenience to the process.
“If you have to deal with any of these agencies in person, that might mean driving to different buildings in Charleston, or even the capitol, where parking isn’t convenient and there are security lines,” Adams said. “The legislature several years ago saw the need of creating one place for these agencies to interact with businesses. When Secretary of State Mac Warner took office last year, he made creating the One Stop a priority.”
Adams said the opening of the One Stop Business Center will help different West Virginia residents in different ways.
“For business owners, time is money,” Adams said. “For entrepreneurs, time means not making their idea a reality and getting their product to market before their competition. The motto of our Business & Licensing Division is 'Moving at the Speed of Business,' and that’s what we’re doing with One Stop.”
Adams said a prospective business owner who takes advantage of the services of the One Stop Business Center can “get their business registration in as little as one hour, then get their paperwork done with the other agencies all at one time.”
“A current business owner who simply needs to update their paperwork can now do it all at once instead of chasing down each agency,” Adams said. “It’s convenient and quick.”
Warner officially opened the One Stop Business Center on Jan. 30 with an open house and ribbon cutting ceremony, according to a release from the Secretary of State’s office.
The release said West Virginia’s One Stop Business Center is a partnership between the four agencies mentioned by Adams.
In addition, the release said the center “is also home to a seven-member call center, providing more responsiveness to customer inquiries.”
