Dorchester businesses may get a boost after Mayor Thomas Menino presented plans to strengthen the local economy during a speech at the 100-year anniversary of the Dorchester Board of Trade, on Tuesday.
The improvements include discounts for the public healthcare insurance, a city department specifically for small businesses, according to an article in The Boston Globe.
“You don’t have time to fool around with bureaucracy. Sometimes, it takes you months to get through our bureaucracy,” Menino said during his speech. “My goal is to make sure there’s a one-stop service for all of you to come to.”
Without having to “hunt and peck” for access to public officials, the program will help small businesses gain liquor licenses and resolve zoning problems faster, said Chairman Phillip Carver of the Dorchester Board of Trade to The Boston Globe.
“It’s tough enough in this economy. Mom and pop businesses don’t have the time to go down to City Hall and find out which department they need to ask for what resource,” Carver said.
The plan would also include the addition of a photo identification card called “bostONEcard” to make the city’s educational resources easier for students to take advantage of, according to the City of Boston website.
Similar to Boston University’s Terrier Card, the bostONEcard would be for students enrolled in the Boston public schools system to access various city services. Instead of having to carry numerous cards, bostONEcard would serve as a school ID, library card, community center card and a Massachusetts Transportation Authority pass folded into one.
Carver said to The Boston Globe that there was a possibility for businesses to become involved with and take advantage of the services provided by the bostONEcard as well.
The program is in a pilot phase at the Josiah Quincy Upper School in Back Bay and the city is in the process of determining whether to extend the program to other schools.
“Budgeting is the most important thing you can do in government, because that tells us how we’re operating,” Menino said during his speech. “If your numbers work, your government works. It’s just like your business; if your numbers don’t work, if there are holes, then…you don’t last too long.”
