Archive for the 'Corporation' Category

Breaking Down Silos

Published on November 18, 2009 in Corporation. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Source: debbieweil.com

We often hear that government bureaucracy is slow to respond, difficult to deal with and frustratingly opaque. One of the major problems  is that government agencies tend to be like silos; isolated and unable to effectively share information and contribute to improving the function of state government.

Back in September, we highlighted the Central Business Registry in light of our Corporation and Information Services Divisions being awarded a Digital Government Achievement Award in the Government-to-Business category. But aside from winning awards, we at the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office believe that the CBR is a tremendous example of how government agencies can create frameworks upon which they can build  projects to share information and streamline their processes.

Currently, customers can log on to the CBR and complete registration with the Oregon Corporation Division, Employment Department, and the Department of Revenue. The next phase of development will bring the Department of Consumer and Business Services into the mix, further streamlining the process.

There are a couple of state agency functions, which could benefit from a Central Business Registry framework. The licensing process, for instance, could be dramatically improved by an online registry built on the same principles as the CBR. The usefulness of such a system would span across the licensing spectrum, helping construction contractors, health care professionals and especially convenience store , restaurant, taverns owners, all of whom have a vast array of licensing needs.

Making the process more fluid for customers is just one great benefit the CBR has produced. Another is the tremendous number of hours that are saved when customers use CBR. The Secretary of State saves approximately 400 hours a month, while the Department of Revenue boasts a savings of roughly 135 hours a month in processing time. These savings translate to improved services to the State’s business customers as well as savings to the agencies involved. In looking to future applications of a CBR framework, these kinds of savings could mean huge gains in productivity across State agencies.

We will be sure to highlight new developments in the CBR as they arrive.

Scams

Published on November 9, 2009 in Corporation. 0 Comments

There’s nothing new about scam artists and hustlers contaminating the business world. The truth is, they even show up in Oregon from time to time.

The Oregon Corporation Division is especially wary of these cons because sometimes they’re designed to look like documents that come from the state when in fact they’re only new ways to illegally separate a business from its money.

“They’re always out there,” said Peter Threlkel, head of the Corporation Division. “They run a pretty regular business, like the 0ld emails for the Nigerian bank scam. But remember, these guys don’t need a lot of people to fall for it for them to make some money. Then they disappear.”

Two familiar scams from recent years include the annual corporate minutes scam and the annual report renewal scam. Both have been seen in Oregon in past years – but not now — and business owners should keep their eyes open. Here’s how they work.

The annual corporate minutes scam arrives in the mail looking as if it came from a government agency.  The solicitation warns of penalties and legal consequences for failure to comply and asks business owners to complete a form and pay a fee of up to hundreds of dollars. But corporate minutes are not filed with the Secretary of State, they are internal records for the corporation only.

Here’s how the annual report scam works. Businesses registered with the Secretary of State are required to file an annual report and pay a fee each year to keep their business registration active. (Assumed business names renew every 2 years.) In this scam, a solicitation warns of the pending expiration of an assumed business name and offers to prepare and file all documents needed to renew the business name for $100. Click here to see a recent example of this solicitation.

You can always check the validity of a mailing by calling the Corporation Division at 503-986-2200 or by going to www.filinginoregon.com/scam_alert to learn more about these scams and find out what legitimate state mailings really look like.

Small businesses are particularly vulnerable because they often don’t have the resources or the time of large company to devote to scams. But all companies, big and small, should be wary. They’ll save  themselves a lot of money and a lot of heartache.

Identity theft is a real problem as well. The Federal Trade Commission set the cost of identity theft to U.S. businesses at $48 billion a year. Last summer, 41 states, including Oregon, reached a $9.75 million settlement with the parent company of T.J. Maxx and Marshalls over a data breach that exposed 94 million credit and debit card numbers to hackers.

More and more, it’s businesses being victimized by identity thieves. The scams are sometimes quite simple. One involves a criminal who rents space in your building. He then applies for corporate credit cards in your firm’s name and they’re issued because the company name and address check out. The  cards are delivered to his mailbox, not yours, he sells them on the street and leaves town and your credit is wrecked.

The economy is making things tough enough without crooks sneaking in to steal your money. Be extra careful.

Online Notary Education

Published on September 30, 2009 in Corporation and Notary Public. 0 Comments Tags: , .

From processedright.com

Much like our Central Business Registry streamlined the filing process for those hoping to start up a new business, the on-line course of education for Oregon Notary Public applicants makes it easier than ever for would-be notaries to learn the requisite notary laws, rules and procedures needed to take the final notary public exam. At the completion of the online education, the exam can be completed as well, significantly streamlining the process for aspiring notaries.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Users register for the course online
  2. Users take part in the 3 hour course
  3. Once the requirement has been fulfilled, a link for the test will appear in the table of contents
  4. Users take the test

That’s it! After successful completion of the test, exam takers will receive an email with a Certificate of Education and instructions on what to do next to complete the path towards becoming a Notary Public, all that’s left is completing the application and taking care of some minor details which are outlined here, on the Corporation division’s site.

The on-line course of education is another great innovation from our Corporation division and what’s more, we now own the code and application that backs the course, which means we can expand it to other areas at the Secretary of State who want to provide online training to the public.

The Digital Government Achievement Awards

Published on September 18, 2009 in Corporation. 1 Comment Tags: , , , .

The Secretary of State’s Office is a multi-faceted agency with program divisions that handle some of our State Government’s most vital tasks. However, what often goes unseen is the work that our internal divisions do in support of our program divisions. On September 1st, our Information Systems Division was awarded a Digital Government Achievement Award (DGAA) in the Government-to-business category for its development of the Central Business Registry, which has streamlined the filing process for those wishing to start a business in Oregon. The DGAA is given to an agency or department for an outstanding Web site or project at the application and infrastructure level. It is open to all government agencies the world over, so it’s safe to say that our competition was pretty fierce.

So what’s the big deal with the Central Business Registry (CBR) anyways? Well, for starters, before the development of CBR, in order to start a business in Oregon, a business registrant may have been required to register with as many as six different state agencies.  Each of these agencies has separate requirements and forms that must be completed and processed.  This process required  days or even weeks to complete, and in some cases even required the business registrant to travel to the agency to complete the transaction.

What we have now is a process that’s a bit more like “one stop shopping” for starting a business. Currently, customers can log on to the CBR and complete registration with the Oregon Corporation Division, Employment Department, and the Department of Revenue. The next phase of development will bring the Department of Consumer and Business Services into the mix, further streamlining the process.

Making the process more efficient for customers is just one great benefit the CBR has produced. Another is the tremendous number of hours that are saved when customers use CBR. The Secretary of State saves approximately 400 hours a month, while the Department of Revenue boasts a savings of roughly 135 hours a month in processing time. These savings translate to improved services to the State’s business customers as well as savings to the agencies involved.

Our ISD and Corporations divisions put a great deal of work into this project and we are very happy that their hard work and ingenuity have not gone unnoticed. If you’re looking to start a business in Oregon, go ahead and pay the CBR a visit. After all, it’s award winning.