To the Editor:
My name is Karl Johnson. I am a Chesterfield resident and a business owner. I am a commercial developer. I would like to see the Board of Supervisors make some changes in the way Chesterfield County approves which Commercial Developers get on the Fast Track approval process. In my experience dealing with my County, it seems that the large corporations get all the attention (such as Kroger. Martins and Amazon). I know these projects bring a lot of attention and jobs but the real economic mover is small businesses. The ratio of large businesses to small business permitted in the Fast Track process needs to be adjusted. These facts are supplied by the Chesterfield County Economic development agency: Large corporations only supply 15 percent of the growth. The other 85 percent is through small businesses. When the large corporations get put on the Fast Track Approval there is not enough county resources to allow the local small businesses to apply. In my experience it takes over two years for a local small business corporation to get a building permit. This is a tremendous burden on the small business owners. It slows growth for all smaller business owners not just the developers. This needs to be changed.
I have one other item that I believe needs to be addressed by the Board of Supervisors. In this day of computers and cell phones every business gets a rating for their service or product. This information allows the business to get vital information on how good a job they are doing. It also identifies if there is a problem and allows the business to correct it. The county can supply a form whenever there is an application for any purpose in the county. This will rate every department in the county and how helpful they were. The county can also include this form on their web site. This information will help the county pinpoint problem areas and help with the overall performance of the Chesterfield County.
Karl Johnson
