Business Resources

On March 13, 2020 the City of Independence entered a State of Emergency due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Since then, several steps have been taken to assist business owners in our community. Below we have highlight some of the changes and provided resources that may be helpful.

Decreased Fees and Simplified Paperwork

At the beginning of the State of Emergency, the City began the process of shifting as many services online as possible. The Community Development Department updated the business licensing section to make it more user friendly, streamlined review processes and updated paper forms to make them easier to use.

Here are some additional highlights:

• The City of Independence took steps to make it easier for those businesses just getting started by creating a flat fee of $75. The flat rate applies to small (10 employees or fewer) business start ups. This fee covers their 1st year of operation. When those businesses renew, the regular business license fee rate structure applies.
   
• Food trucks have been a popular socially distanced activity over the last few months. To make it simpler for these businesses to operate in the City, steps were taken to streamline the permit and licensure process with a flat fee of $75 ($50 for the health permit and $25 for the business license). Prior to this change, the fees were $200 for health permit and $75 for business license.
  
  
• The City also worked with restaurants in the Englewood Arts and Downtown Square areas to expand their outdoor seating options into the right of way.
  
  
• Finally, the City has waived all credit card fees for utility payments and waived late fees for much of 2020. All late fees, credit card fees and shutoffs are currently discontinued until further notice.

Resources

City of Independence Business Licensing through the Community Development Regulated Industries division

New Business Development information from the City of Independence

Paycheck Protection Program information

Small Business Administration loan information

Guidance on masks for businesses

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