By Calvin W. Goings, Regional Administrator

Starting a business can be overwhelming. You have to set up a legal structure, find office space, and apply for multiple licenses and permits, before you can even open your doors to customers.

The process should not be tedious or time-consuming. That’s why the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is proud to join the White House in announcing the launch of our Startup in a Day initiative, in alliance with the National League of Cities.

This month SBA is calling on local leaders, at city halls across the country, to make a powerful pledge to streamline and consolidate all of the processes required to start a business into one, easy-to-use online tool. Our goal is to enable America’s entrepreneurs to be able to apply for all city, county, state and federal licenses; and permits needed to start a business in 24 hours or less.

Success in this endeavor will enable entrepreneurs to spend their valuable time developing their products, finding new customers and growing their enterprises – rather than wading through red tape.

Eleven pioneering cities, including Seattle Washington, have already taken the Startup in a Day pledge and are working to consolidate local licensing and permitting requirements for their entrepreneurs. We encourage more cities, large and small, as well as Native American communities, to join this movement and take the pledge.

To enhance Startup in a Day, the SBA is offering significant prize money to help local leaders create tools to make good on the pledge.

We’re hosting two prize competitions open until July 13th, to encourage municipalities to create or implement a Startup in a Day online tool. The first contest will award up to 25 prizes of $50,000 apiece to cities that create or implement a solution that will make it easier for entrepreneurs to apply, in less than 24 hours, for all licenses and permits needed to start a business. The second prize competition will award $250,000 to a winning applicant who creates an open-source solution that can be adopted by other jurisdictions.

Small businesses are the engines of the U.S. economy. They create two out of every three net, new jobs and employ more than half of the country’s private-sector workforce. When we make it easier for new businesses to get started, we’re ultimately making it easier for them to grow and hire.

Please join the SBA in encouraging cities to join the Startup in a Day movement and eliminate barriers to small business job creation. Together with local jurisdictions, we can make the process of starting a business faster and easier.