SOURCES OF INFORMATION AND ASSISTANCE
STATE PROGRAMS
SMALL BUSINESS ASSISTANCE OFFICE The Small Business Assistance Office, specifically created by Minn. Stat. § 116J.66, provides accurate, timely and comprehensive information and assistance to businesses in all areas of start- up, operation and expansion. Functionally, the office has two bureaus for service delivery: the Bureau of Business Licenses and the Bureau of Small Business. The specific services of the Bureau of Business Licenses and the Bureau of Small Business are described below. For further information on these programs or to order any of the publications, contact the Small Business Assistance Office at the address and telephone number listed in the Resource Directory section of this Guide. Bureau of Business Licenses The Bureau of Business Licenses provides a number of services at no charge. It publishes the State of Minnesota Directory of Licenses and Permits reproduced in this Guide. That Directory, along with additional license and permit information, is available at Minnesota ELicensing. The Bureau provides comprehensive information on the number and kind of licenses required for a business venture, the agencies which issue them and the affirmative burdens imposed on applicants. The Bureau will also provide opinions from licensing agencies on their use of discretion in issuing licenses, and the potential issues and difficulties in obtaining licenses based on a review of a potential applicant’s business concept. Master application procedures for obtaining related and similar licenses from different licensing agencies of the state are available, as well as consolidation of hearings involved in obtaining multiple licenses and information on related licensing requirements of federal and local governments. Bureau of Small Business The Bureau of Small Business serves as a focal point within state government for small business related information. It publishes Checklist for Hiring an Employee (reprinted in this Guide), an outline of the federal and state requirements governing the hiring of an employee; A Guide to Intellectual Property Protection , a primer for the inventor and the entrepreneur on the protection of new ideas and the products which result from them; An Employer’s Guide to Employment Law Issues in Minnesota , designed to alert Minnesota employers to issues which commonly arise in the employment relationship; Employing Servicemembers: What You Should Know About USERRA , a manual concerning employers dealing with servicemember employees and the protections offered to those employees under the Uniformed Services
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