Starting a small business in Richmond can be a bit of a hassle. Some call the city’s current procedures and requirements exceedingly extensive; for some, starting an organization may not even be worth the trouble. That is, unless Heide Trepanier’s petition is accepted to City Council.
Starting a small business in Richmond can be a bit of a hassle. Some call the city’s current procedures and requirements exceedingly extensive; for some, starting an organization may not even be worth the trouble. That is, unless Heide Trepanier’s petition is accepted to City Council.
Trepanier, 45, is an instructor at the University of Richmond in the Art and Art History Department. Along with being a local artist, Trepanier is also the director of LoveBomb; a community and activism space for the arts in Manchester.
She said the major problem with starting a business in RVA is that the city has a particular model an applicant has to follow in order to start a small business. According to Trepanier, many people are not familiar with the struggles associated with the process.
“I could have used some assistance,” said Trepanier about the process of starting LoveBomb.
“The city relies on several different departments to enforce different requirements to start an organization or non-profit. These departments work alongside each other, but their requirements are stacked so that once you complete one task, you’re just given another,” she explained. “They do not notify you of the next ten steps in the process. So by step six you’re completely out of money and have to give up.”
That’s where her Change.org petition comes in.
Trepanier wants to create a form of solidity in the city which will help small business applicants in particular.
“The petition is asking the City of Richmond to either streamline the process of Zoning, Code Enforcement and Business Licensing or to create a position in City Hall for an advocate to help make setting up a small business or non-profit easier,” said Trepanier.
Her business idea is to provide her neighborhood and local artists with a center that offers free or low cost art classes and training, as well as a place where artists cover the overhead for the building and programming simply by paying their rent.
“It is a funky business type and so it is hard to explain to City Hall that we really do not make any money,” said Trepanier. “Anytime you try to do something that has not been done before you are going to run into bureaucratic problems because the city is not set up to accommodate this type of situation.”
Trepanier also believes that small business are important for the success and growth of Richmond.
“Everyone knows the vitality of the city remains in the hands of the small business owner,” said Trepanier. “No one is going to come downtown just to eat at Chili’s. There’s 15 of them on the way down here. Having small owner-operated businesses and restaurants draws people to the city to see things, and to help the tax base.”
Trepanier currently has 434 supporters on the change.org page. She plans on taking it to City Council for review once she receives 500 signatures.
“This is something that needs to happen now so that less people end up in the situation I found myself in,” said Trepanier. “I am hoping to use my place as a platform to create a change.”
To learn more about Trepanier’s petition, head on over to Change.org here.
