Elgin works on revamping small business permit process

The city of Elgin plans to revamp its business permit forms and processes to be quicker and easier to navigate, particularly for current and prospective small business owners, officials said. "A process improvement team" of six city staff members worked on proposed changes for about a year. Two of them, Karina Nava and Amanda Harris, hosted the first small business public forum Wednesday at the Centre of Elgin, where they presented drafts and asked for feedback from business owners. Two more meetings with business operators are planned before changes are put into place this fall. Nava said the team did interviews and observed interactions between the public and city staff members. "We asked a lot of, 'Why are we doing this?'" Nava said. "When we got the answer, 'Well, this how we've always done it,' that's what for us meant, 'This is an opportunity for growth,'" she said.