The director shall establish and implement pursuant to this section the Business Ombudsman Program, referred to in this section as "the program," and the director shall serve as the ombudsman for the program. The program is established to: resolve problems encountered by businesses dealing with other state agencies; facilitate responsiveness of State Government to small business needs; report to the commissioner and the Legislature on breakdowns in the economic delivery system, including problems encountered by businesses dealing with state agencies; assist businesses by referring businesses and persons to resources that provide the business services or assistance requested; provide comprehensive permit information and assistance; and serve as a central clearinghouse of information with re
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The director shall establish and implement pursuant to this section the Business Ombudsman Program, referred to in this section as "the program," and the director shall serve as the ombudsman for the program. The program is established to: resolve problems encountered by businesses dealing with other state agencies; facilitate responsiveness of State Government to small business needs; report to the commissioner and the Legislature on breakdowns in the economic delivery system, including problems encountered by businesses dealing with state agencies; assist businesses by referring businesses and persons to resources that provide the business services or assistance requested; provide comprehensive permit information and assistance; and serve as a central clearinghouse of information with respect to business assistance programs and services available in the State.
1.
Referral and central clearinghouse service.
The ombudsman shall maintain and update annually a list of the business assistance programs and services and the names, locations, websites and telephone numbers of the organizations providing these programs and services that are available within the State. The ombudsman may publish a guide consisting of the business assistance programs and services available from public or private sector organizations throughout the State. This program must be designed to:
2.
Business fairness and responsiveness.
The ombudsman shall implement a business fairness and responsiveness service designed to:
3.
Comprehensive permit information.
The ombudsman shall develop and maintain a program to provide comprehensive information on permits required for business undertakings, projects and activities and to make that information available to any person. This program must function as follows.
4.
Permit assistance.
By December 15, 2011, the ombudsman shall set up procedures to assist permit applicants who have encountered difficulties in obtaining timely and efficient permit review. These procedures must include the following.
5.
Retail business permitting program.
The ombudsman shall establish and administer a central permitting program for all permits required by retail businesses selling directly to the final consumer, including, but not limited to, permits required for the operation of hotels and motels, convenience stores and eating establishments, and permits required for the sale of liquor or beer, tobacco, food, beverages, lottery tickets and gasoline. Permits issued by the Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of Marine Resources and the Maine Land Use Planning Commission are not included in this program. The ombudsman shall:
6.
Municipal permitting agents.
By February 1, 2012, the ombudsman shall establish a municipal centralized permitting program.
7.
Goal and evaluation.
It is the goal of the programs established in subsections 5 and 6 for retail businesses to obtain permits more quickly at no additional cost to the taxpayers of the State. The ombudsman shall devise and implement a program of data collection and analysis that allows a determination as to whether these goals have been met. This program must include the collection of benchmark data before the initiation of the programs and an enumeration of the number of municipalities participating in the program. By January 15, 2012 and every 2 years after that date, the ombudsman shall prepare and submit a report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over economic development matters regarding the effectiveness of the program and any recommendations as to why the retail business program and the municipal centralized permitting program should not be expanded to other sizes or types of businesses, to other issuing agencies and to smaller municipalities. The first report must contain an assessment of the levels of willingness of municipalities to participate in the programs established by this section.
8.
Report.
By January 15, 2012 and at least annually thereafter, the ombudsman shall report to the Governor and the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over economic development matters about the program with any recommendations for changes in the statutes to improve the program and its delivery of services to businesses. The joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over economic development matters may report out a bill relating to the program.