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Kentucky Improves One Stop Business Portal

The Guardian

Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, Kentucky’s Chief Business Officer, is announcing today new features on the Kentucky Business One Stop Portal (http://www.onestop.ky.gov) that make it easier for new businesses to register and interact with the Secretary of State’s Office and Department of Revenue. 

The enhancements save businesses both time and money by streamlining transactions and data and providing more flexibility and security in managing information.

The Kentucky Business One Stop Portal was originally created in 2011 to simplify and streamline business interactions with different government agencies. It is a partnership of the Office of the Secretary of State, the Finance and Administration Cabinet, the Cabinet for Economic Development and the Commonwealth Office of Technology. Kentucky is one of only 11 states with a one stop business portal.

“Expanding and improving the portal in order to increase efficiency for both businesses and government agencies has been a top priority of mine, and Kentucky is now leading the nation in this field,” said Grimes.

“We’ve already seen substantial time savings through the portal, and these exciting new features will allow businesses to spend even less time interacting with government, and more time creating jobs and stimulating our economy,” added Grimes.

A new “dashboard” displays all of a business owner’s transactions in one place, allowing him to access all pertinent business and tax information from one location. The dashboard also provides the option to view and print a Sales and Use Tax Permit.

In addition, pursuant to a new law Grimes championed and the General Assembly passed in 2014, new businesses are being assigned a unique Commonwealth Business Identification number (“CBI”), which will connect the various identifiers designated by individual state agencies. By allowing businesses to use a consistent identification number in their interactions with various agencies, the CBI eases the burden on business owners.

The portal also now offers a streamlined, central registration system that reduces the need to provide or update information separately to multiple agencies. With this enhancement, changes to data such as name, address and phone number can be entered once in the portal and be shared automatically with any participating agencies. In addition to making the process more efficient for businesses, the centralized registration system will minimize data errors and inconsistencies across agencies.

The portal is also more secure and flexible than ever before, allowing business owners to grant role-based access to others who may act on behalf of the business. For example, a business owner may allow agents such as lawyers, accountants, or managers to perform certain tasks within the portal, including registering for or paying a tax, or adding employees to the business’s unemployment insurance account.

The new features became available to first-time business registrants on April 30. In just over one month, more than 1,500 new businesses have registered, and another approximately 1,500 entities have started applications using the new system. Existing businesses will be transitioned later this year.

“Business owners have provided overwhelming positive feedback about these new features,” said Grimes.

“I’m proud of what we have accomplished with our One Stop partners and of the positive impact the portal is having on Kentucky businesses. I look forward to continuing our unprecedented inter-agency cooperation to make Kentucky even more business friendly,” added Grimes.

(story provided by Kentucky Secretary of State)

Paul Hitchcock earned his Masters in Communications from Morehead State University and Bachelors in Radio-TV/Psychology from Georgetown College. A veteran broadcaster for more than 40 years and an avid fan of blues, jazz and American roots music. Hitchcock has been with WMKY since 1986 and was named General Manager in 2003. He currently hosts "Muddy Bottom Blues" (Fri., 8pm-9pm), "Nothin' But The Blues" (Sat., 8pm-12am), "Sunday Night Jazz Showcase" and "Live From The Jazz Lounge" (Sun., 8pm-9pm) and "The Golden Age of Radio" (Sun., 2pm-3pm). He also serves as producer for "A Time For Tales" and "The Reader's Notebook."
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