CIO Bulletin

Permit Pros — Built for executives and for licensing professionals to intuitively manage their work with ease and productivity

Almost all business types need a license of some kind. If you are a sole proprietor, you probably need to register your business with a state or local office, and are responsible for maintaining those licenses and any requirements that exist under that license. On the other hand, if you are a multinational corporation with locations in numerous countries around the world, your licensing requirements probably feel insurmountable.

In many instances, businesses are required to apply for all necessary licenses for each location where they conduct business. Additionally, they frequently need to submit multiple license applications for each department, division, or other legal entity.

The flood of bureaucratic red tape could turn into a true swamp. The majority of businesses deal with licensing on an as-needed basis, relying on personnel in the legal or operations departments to navigate the regulatory maze and keep the company up-to-date on intricate reporting requirements. The end result is typically a collection of haphazardly put together, decentralized, disorganized systems. It should therefore come as no surprise that many businesses struggle with licensing issues that may lead to penalties, fines, delays in work, or even criminal charges.

With its dependable, cutting-edge modern software systems, Permit Pros provides an inventive solution to all your business license management needs. Permit Pros is your cutting-edge software as a service license tracking system. It was designed and developed by a team of IT and compliance industry veterans. It is designed so that licensing professionals can manage their work easily and productively and that executives can get immediate insights into their licensing department.

The following excerpts were taken from a conversation with Laine Edwards, Founder and President of Permit Pros.

Q. How did Permit Pros begin?

Permit Pros is celebrating our 10 year anniversary! The business grew up in hospitality and has expanded from there to any industry, coast-to-coast.

Q. How does Permit Pros help clients?

Licensing is a wild child at best, and at its worst, well, it can get pretty bad. There are about 250,000 government agencies: federal, state, county, and city/parish. All issue some sort of license or permit. While some licensing information may be considered “standard,” none of the processes are standardized, no application is the same, and no process is the same. Some are permits, some are licenses, some are certifications, and some are regulations. It’s important to know the difference. We understand the language and requirements, and we take that information and break it down for our clients. We know what questions to ask and what answers we need.

Q. Can you give us examples of how you help customers?

Having the experience to guide our clients from the new application process, through initial licensure, renewals, ownership changes and beyond, ensures they remain compliant at all times. Our clients know they can reach out to us with any questions or concerns.

During a rather large acquisition, a tax firm (which had limited knowledge of licensing matters) decided that new Certificates of Occupancy applications needed to be filed with the various cities for the new owners. Typically, COs are issued and attached to the building, and a change of ownership is generally an administrative filing with the city. In this case, these buildings were 20, 30, and up to 40 years old and older. Upon submission, each city then had the right to inspect and possibly require the building to be upgraded to today’s codes. This would have been a financial disaster. Fortunately, after assessing the situation, this discovery was quickly made, and the applications were immediately withdrawn saving potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars for the new owner.

In another case, when a hotel/restaurant remodeled their premises without getting prior approval from the liquor board its liquor license was deactivated and all liquor sales stopped. In this case, the liquor license had restrictions based on the approved footprint of the restaurant and various areas where liquor, beer and wine could be sold and served. While changing décor and rearranging the interiors did not require board approval, in this case, walls were moved which significantly altered the hotel’s footprint. The restrictions dictated that such changes be submitted prior to any construction. We immediately requested a hearing, made several calls to the agent

in charge, hired an attorney on our client’s behalf, and because of our quick response, we were able to have the license reinstated quickly with the new approved floor plan.

Q. What function does innovation serve for Permit Pros?

At Permit Pros innovation never stops. Today’s technology is already obsolete with tomorrow’s new ideas.

If you are not continually investing in your infrastructure, you won’t be able to keep up with your customers’ expectations.

Q. How does the business license management solution work to offer a new approach to a persistent issue?

People love familiarity. People also love anything new. We provide both. We offer a fresh new look and intuitive agility with familiar data. Adaptability is key, and our tracking system is customizable for any industry, anywhere, at any time. We also want to keep it simple. As we add other modules, our clients only need to log in to one system to have access across the platform.

Q. Can you give us a brief overview of the services you provide?

Permit Pros offers licensing consulting, liquor brokerage, license tracking, training, research, acquisition support, and a host of other services. We also partner with other companies like attorneys, accountants, and other permitting service companies to provide the full complement of services our customers often need. Please check our website, https://permitpros.com/, where you can also request a demo of our tracking system.

Q. What are your future plans?

Expansion! We plan on growing our client base, whether by adding new clients of all sizes or acquiring other licensing agencies and services. Unlike other companies, we focus on licensing, knowing how this area touches almost every aspect of your business. Without a license you don’t have a business.

Providing businesses a hassle free solution for all their licensing needs

Laine Edwards is the Founder and President of Permit Pros. Throughout her career, Ms. Edwards has gained expertise in providing licensing and contract services. For her efforts in the licensing field, Laine was inducted into Marquis Who’s Who in America in 2020. Ms. Edwards also serves as President of Ninth Street Bridge Development Inc., a software management company.

A passionate professional, Ms. Edwards has been most proud of her work with their license tracking system, as it places her company ahead of the competition. Ms. Edwards received a Bachelor of Science in Journalism/News and Public Affairs from Oklahoma State University.

Ravi Theruru is Vice President and Head of Product Sales and co-founded the Ninth Street Bridge Development, Inc., the software development division of Permit Pros. Through this, he led the efforts to revamp and redeploy the new licensing tracking system. Ravi has nearly 20 years of strong experience in Software Development, Production Systems Support, Business Analysis, Consulting and Sales.

Ravi is based in Dallas, Texas. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in engineering from IIT Madras, which is a premier and world class technology institute in India.