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Jason Cobb owns Java J's. Christie Hiemenz is the store manager. The two say it was difficult to navigate the city's licensing and permit process. (MPR Photo/Tom Scheck)

If you're thinking about opening a business in Minneapolis over the next few years, you'd better be paying attention to the mayor's race. Business owners have to get permits from the city and go through a list of inspections before they can open. Minneapolis business leaders are hoping that this year's mayoral election will bring more attention to what they call a confusing process.

Minneapolis, Minn. — Minneapolis appears to be a great place to do business. There's nearly $3 billion worth of development in progress. 165,000 people work downtown. Target has a new headquarters in the city, and small businesses on Lake Street are thriving. But some small business owners say if you look a little deeper, the city has some big problems.

Java J's coffee shop just opened last week in a trendy part of downtown Minneapolis. As customers sit on chairs, several workers mill about making lattes and other coffee drinks.

Christie Hiemenz is the manager of Java J's. She's happy the business is finally open, especially after the time and effort it took to navigate the city's rules for opening a small business.

"It was a lot of red tape to go through and a lot of hoops to go through," Hiemenz said.

Hiemenz said she and the owner of Java J's were often confused about the permit process. She said one inspector told her one thing but other inspectors told her something different. Hiemenz said she and the owner told city inspectors that they wanted to open in mid-October.

They got all six of their inspections ranging from plumbing to electrical to ventilation. They met the city's zoning codes and had all of their permits approved. But right before they were ready to open their doors, inspectors told them they had to wait three weeks for city council approval.

Hiemenz said that was the first time anyone told them the council would be involved.

"After that point, we were trying to figure it out and had to sit and do nothing for two weeks," Heimenz said. "We had our employees hired. We had all of the vendors deliver everything. The place is set up and ready to go and now we can't make any money for the next three weeks or even start selling things to anyone."

Hiemenz said part of the problem is that they didn't understand the city's rules. But she said no one ever sat down to explain the process during the four months they were in contact with city officials.

In the end, Java J's opened a week and a half late. But that was only after Hiemenz and the owner contacted two city council members, Mayor R.T. Rybak's office, even Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

From a business owner's standpoint, when you're trying to get a business opened, time is money. - Joyce Wisdom

The problem at Java J's may seem like an isolated incident, but business groups say it happens all the time.

"It's literally like a maze," said Joyce Wisdom, executive director of the Lake Street Council, which represents businesses along Lake Street.

Wisdom said the permitting and inspection process has gotten so bad that some business owners disregard the city's rules and pay any fines or penalties later. Wisdom said some owners give up and choose to open their businesses in other cities.

"From a business owner's standpoint, when you're trying to get a business opened, time is money," Wisdom said. "If you lost a day, or lost a week or a month because you were tangled in the process, you're behind the eight ball then in trying to get the business opened up."

Wisdom said it would help if the city had more interpretors available to help immigrants who want to open businesses. She also said it would be nice if the city had someone who could help a business owner move through the process.

Mayor R.T. Rybak said the city is working on the problem. He said the process has improved during his four years in office.

"We've made significant improvements in the backlog for inspections, made it easier to get a license," Rybak said. "I want to fully deliver on the promise of a one-stop shop, where someone can come into the city and have only one place that they have to go."

Rybak said starting in January 2006, citizens can also dial 311 and have any of their questions answered by a city official. He hopes that will eliminate some of the confusion. Rybak also said if he's reelected the process will continue to get easier.

But Rybak's challenger, Peter McLaughlin, said that's not good enough.

"After three and a half years, if you haven't fixed those kinds of things, and you were saying that you would make the business processes in the city more effective, you failed," McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin said if he's elected he'll work to untangle the complicated licensing process. He said he would also hire people with business experience so they can work to make it easier for business owners.

Christie Hiemenz, at Java J's, said she'll be taking a careful look at which of the two candidates will be more friendly to small business before the Nov. 8 election.