It is not an uncommon sentiment and it has been echoed continuously amongst business owners and the patrons who have had long discussions with them: it is not easy to open a business in Long Beach. In fact, it is not easy to modify or expand — let alone open. And in fact, fearful of the backlash they would get while building a relationship, several businesses simply refused to comment for the story.
So I am left with just pointing out the Disney fiasco.
Of course, this is not to say the City is evil and the businesses are always good. Businesses and patrons alike know there are hoops that one must hop through (oftentimes, essential hoops that are for the safety of one’s business and the public). However, businesses have grown tired when the hoops seem to line an endless length. And the Council of Business Associations should, in no short manner, be applauded in their attempt to curb this frustration.
After having met once a month for the past three years — and realizing that the overarching issue was the perceived difficulty of the process of business within Long Beach — the Council of Business Associations (COBA) has developed and released an online customer service survey to the Long Beach business community as a way to gather feedback that describes the experience of the city’s licensing, permitting, and inspection processes. The ultimate goal being that enough feedback, positive and pejorative, can be fed through the survey in order to make suggestions to city management to better the City’s business approach. In the words of COBA: “[T]o implement and help change any negative perception of Long Beach as a place to do business and create a real ‘business friendly’ environment.”
Survey questions were developed by COBA and, even better, reviewed in a partnership with the City of Long Beach Department of Development Services in order to make sure that city staff, after reviewing the answers, will be able to pin point where complaints or feedback should be directed and addressed. Versions in Spanish and Khmer are on their way.
What needs to be applauded is rather simple: through diligence, patience, and cooperation (rather than resorting to the all-too-common platform of complaining, projecting ADHD-like thoughts that result in nothing, and pointing fingers), COBA has actually done something to alter the situation. And even better, it is because of the perceived negative outlook business owners within and without Long Beach have against our city — whether those perceptions are well-grounded or not.
COBA is made up of representatives of business improvement districts and business alliances that include: Bixby Knolls, Downtown, 4th Street, Belmont Shore, East Anaheim, Naples, Cambodia Town, East Spring Street, Andy Street, and Broadway corridor.