Aurora is planning to update its business registration process to be easier and more streamlined, but also provide businesses more support, after the success of a pilot program that started last year, officials said.
Almost all businesses within Aurora are required to register with the city annually, but city staff said at meetings recently that the old registration process, which began in 2019, had low participation because it was frustrating and inconvenient.
The ongoing pilot approved last April, which lowered the number of questions required to register from over 60 to just 15, along with other changes, brought in more applications last year than ever before, even without a large marketing push, according to Aurora Chief Development Services Officer John Curley.
“This process represents a pivotal moment in the ongoing economic development and evolution of our city, particularly around improving the communication with businesses all over the city and taking a proactive approach in increasing the visibility of our business services and products,” Aurora Economic Development Coordinator Kenneth Campbell said.
Campbell and Curley gave a presentation on the business registration process pilot to the City Council Committee of the Whole at a meeting earlier this month.
During that presentation, Curley said the business registration process was originally planned to be a catch-all for questions about a business that emergency responders like fire and police may want to have answered, especially after the mass shooting at Henry Pratt Co. in 2019.
While the new process is more streamlined, it keeps key questions that emergency responders need answered, according to Curley. He said the most important thing for first responders to have is an annually-updated database of contact information for city businesses, which this registration process will provide.
In addition to gathering data for first responders, the registration process will also feed data into a map of city businesses powered by GIS and into a data analytics system that city officials can use when making decisions, Campbell said.
This data, particularly the map, will also help market the city to new developers who want to see what products and services are offered within certain areas and will help market businesses that otherwise may not have the funding to do it themselves, he said.
However, businesses will get the chance to opt-out of publicly displaying their information.
The new business registration program will also let the city better keep local businesses informed about potential grant opportunities and how to do business with the city, along with updates and other general information, Curley said. A website hosting videos, instructions and other content to keep businesses informed is planned to be launched for the program, Campbell said.
Around 481 businesses registered with the city in 2024, an increase over the 328 businesses that registered in 2023, according to Curley’s presentation.
The number of minority and women-owned business enterprises that registered with the city also saw a significant increase in 2024, making up 52.8% of the registrations, compared to 1.8% of registrations in 2023, which was one of the goals of the pilot, the presentation said.
“It’s getting closer to being representative of our business community here in the city of Aurora,” Curley said.
Now, a marketing campaign is currently being worked on for the new business development program, Campbell told The Beacon-News. He said the goal is to have a variety of options to communicate with the public, including the website that will have information about the registration process and its benefits.
Also this year, city staff are planning to propose a number of “significant changes” to city ordinances related to the new business registration program, according to Deputy Chief of Staff Alex Voigt. She told the City Council Rules, Administration and Procedures Committee recently that the changes would come in sections, similar to how other “substantive changes” have been made in the past.
Some of the amendments will look at how the business registration process can improve city interactions with businesses, including enforcement but also communication, which the current ordinance lacks, Voigt said. The two city departments that will be involved with those changes are the Fire Prevention Bureau and Property Standards, she said.
City staff will also be reviewing the ordinances about the business registration application, licenses, exceptions from registration and others, according to Voigt.
Currently, more information about the city’s business registration process can be found at: www.aurora-il.org/2217/Business-Registration
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