Running head: CITY HALL VISIT

Crystal McField
International College of the Cayman Islands
Seminar on Business and Society

Reflection Paper City Hall

BE 425
LECTURER: Dr. David Marshall
Date: May 18, 2016

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On Wednesday, May 18, 2016, the seminar class of ICCI visited City Hall in Chicago
Illinois. This was the first outing for the entire trip. I was excited; I was going to meet the Mayor
of Chicago along with other staff members to discuss their views and initiatives taken to enhance
business and society.
The meeting took place in room 201A on the second floor of City Hall. The class took
pictures with Mayor Rahm Emanuel who stood in front of the flag of the United States and the
flag of Chicago. After our pictures, we were escorted to the Department of Business Affairs and
Consumer Protection to speak with Ms. Roxanne Nava, Chief small business officer.
Ms. Navas section within the department deals with licensing permits, consumer
complaints, transportation, and cable permits for the City of Chicago. She also spoke of the
Mayors vision of making sole proprietorship hassle free and efficient. The Mayor placed all
departments which a business owner would need to visit to get required permits and
documentation in order to begin a company under one roof, City Hall, and made the process
efficient by allowing the person to deal with one officer instead of having to visit numerous
offices and different persons.
Ms. Nava referred to it as a one-stop shop. Allowing Mayor Emanuels vision to come
to light has afforded business owners life and business life to become hassle and burden free to
an extent. The government also supports business ventures of small businesses wholeheartedly
and provides a number of services to enable a successful operation. The handouts given
highlighted nine key components to getting a business started, they are

Create a business plan

Finance the business

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Find a location

Register the business

Permits & licensing

Employees

Community

Support start or growth

Contacts

All nine of these components are essential to any business and its development into a
successful company. These components are provided to small business owners by the City of
Chicago. As I have learned many entrepreneurs start their own companies because they cannot
find a job, they feel as they can offer better service or there is a desire to be ones own boss. One
fundamental principle and highlight that I took away from todays meeting with Ms. Nava is that
one person vision can change the life of many.
Many small businesses hire the lower class of society and afford them to live better lives
which enhance our communities and neighborhoods. One prime example was an artist who
opened a restaurant and decided to paint an alleyway. His vision brightened an entire community
which incorporated schools and neighborhoods which eventually became a business and has now
spread to other States within the region. The better a business strives the better the community
becomes and its surroundings stated Ms. Nava. This statement demonstrates that businesses
affect society in all matters and the governments worldwide have established that the sooner we
help small business grow the better our communities will grow and become sustainable.

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According to Anne Lawrence, author of business and society, stakeholders, ethics, and
public policy there is a famous quote that is common in many journals for business executives
which challenges assumption of responsibility is business has become the most powerful
institution on the planet. The dominant institution in any society needs to take responsibility for
the whole (Lawrence, A. pg. 48) This statement demonstrates that businesses affect society in all
matters and the governments worldwide have established that the sooner we help small business
grow the better our communities will grow and become sustainable.
The implication for Cayman, which I was not aware of, is that the government offers a
similar outline and helping hand to small businesses. This was highlighted by a fellow student
and I will be researching a little more about this in the future.

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References
Lawrence A.T.,& Weber. J.,(2003).Business and Society: Stakeholders, ethics, public
policy(14th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill