V. REGISTRATIONS, LICENSES & PERMITS (RED TAPE)

PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS

Before beginning the process of registering and obtaining licenses and permits, it will be necessary to complete a couple of steps:

1. Determine the name of the business.
2. Determine the legal form of the business.
3. Establish the address that will be used for official business purposes.
4. Consider whether the business will be collecting and paying sales taxes.
5. Determine whether the business will have employees.

FICTITIOUS NAMES

You may choose to operate your business under a name different from the legal name of the company. If this is the case, you must register this fictitious name (also referred to as a trade name, assumed name or doing business as or DBA name) with the county, as required by the Trade Name Registration Act that applies to your area.

New Hanover County
New Hanover County Courthouse
314 Princess Street, Room 216
Wilmington, NC 28401
(910) 341-4530

LEGAL DOCUMENTS

It will be necessary to have an attorney prepare some legal documents; the number and type of documents depend upon the form of business you select, as well as the complexity of your organization.

If there are two or more owners involved in the business, it is highly recommended that appropriate legal documents be prepared, covering ownership, duties and authorities of owners and managers, transferability of ownership, survivability of the business under various circumstances, and so on. An attorney who practices corporate law should be consulted.

BUSINESS LICENSES & PERMITS

Federal

A few types of businesses must obtain federal permits/licenses; check with an attorney, but the following types generally fall into this category:

• rendering investment advice (Securities & Exchange Commission)
• providing ground transportation as a common carrier (Interstate Commerce Commission)
• preparation of meat products (Food & Drug Administration)
• production of drugs or biological products (Food & Drug Administration)
• making tobacco products or alcohol (Treasury Dept, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms)
• making or dealing in firearms (Treasury Dept, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms)
• radio or television broadcasting (Federal Communications Commission)

State

Contact the NC Secretary of State's Business License Information Office (BLIO) to determine which, if any, licenses or permits will be needed.

Business License Information Office
North Carolina Secretary of State
301 W. Jones Street
Raleigh, NC 27603
(800) 228-8443
www.secretary.state.nc.us/blio

County

New Hanover County – Privilege/Business Licenses
Marketplace Mall, 230 Marketplace Drive
Wilmington, NC
(910) 341-7113

Local

City of Wilmington – Business Licenses
305 Chestnut Street ( at the corner of 3^rd & Chestnut Streets)
Wilmington, NC 28401
(910) 341-7825

Other County Offices:

• Bladen (Elizabethtown)
  • (910) 862-2143
• Brunswick (Bolivia)
  • (910) 253-8512
• Columbus (Whiteville)
  • (910) 641-3000
• Duplin (Kenansville)
  • (910) 296-1686
• Onslow (Jacksonville)
  • (910) 989-2200
• Pender (Burgaw) (910) 259-1229

EMPLOYER IDENTIFICATION NUMBER (EIN)

Even if there will be no employees, it will be necessary to obtain a federal EIN:

US Internal Revenue Service
3904 Oleander Drive
Wilmington, NC 28403
(800) 829-1040 (information)
(800) 829-3676 (forms)

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

If the company will have employees, contact:

Employment Security Commission
717 Market Street
Wilmington, NC 28401

WORKER'S COMPENSATION INSURANCE

If the company will have employees, contact a qualified insurance agent or:

NC Rate Bureau
5401 Six Forks Road
Raleigh, NC 27605
(919) 783-9790

SALES TAX

A sales tax number will be required if the company will be selling tangible items to end-users. It will also be necessary to obtain some Resale Certificates (obtainable from office supply stores) to be exempt from paying sales taxes on items the company will be buying for resale.

To obtain a sales tax number, contact:

NC Department of Revenue

33 Darlington Avenue

Wilmington, NC 28403

(910) 251-5752

LABOR, HEALTH & SAFETY REGULATIONS

Determine what, if any, state labor, health and safety regulations apply to the business by contacting:

• NC Department of Labor General Information: (919) 733-7166
• Wage & Hour Info: (919) 807-2799
• OSHA: (919) 733-3900

CREDIT REPORTS

Obtain credit reports on all owners/partners in the business and ascertain that they are correct.

Phone numbers for these sources are:

• Equifax (800) 685-1111
• Experian (TRW) (888) 397-3742
• TransUnion (800) 888-4213

These three companies also have web sites, where you can order credit reports.

CERTIFICATES OF OCCUPANCY

If the business will be occupying a building, it may be necessary to apply for a Certificate of Occupancy from the city zoning department:

City of Wilmington Zoning Department
305 Chestnut Street
Wilmington, NC 28401
(910) 254-0900

TRADEMARKS, COPYRIGHTS & PATENTS

General Information

An excellent source of information on all three of these areas is the web site, SBTDC.org. Look in Technology Development for the Intellectual Property Guide.

Trademarks

Trademarks refer to logos and brand names/marks used by a company. Note that federally registered trademarks may conflict with and supersede state registered business and product names. Check for conflicts with federal trademarks.

To register a trademark, contact:

U.S. Department of Commerce, Trademark Office
2021 Jefferson Davis Hwy.
Arlington, VA 22202
(703) 305-8341 or (800) 786-9199

Copyrights

Copyrights protect the thoughts and ideas of authors, composers and artists. A copyright prevents illegal copying of written matter, works of art or computer programs. In order to ensure copyright protection, the copyright owner should always include notices on all copies of the work.

Contact:

U.S. Library of Congress
James Madison Memorial Building
Washington, DC 20559
(202) 707-3000 (Information)
(202) 707-9100 (Orders)

Patents

New and useful inventions can be protected by a U.S. patent. Professional assistance from a patent attorney is strongly advised because patent procedures are detailed and technical. A patent search must be performed to determine if a patent currently exists on the same or nearly the same device; if not, then the proper application will be made with the Patent Office.

Note that only attorneys registered with the U.S. Patent Office may represent inventors in related matters. The office has geographical and alphabetical listings of the more than 11,000 registered agents. Only these agents may perform patent searches in the Patent Office. Inventors or their attorneys can make arrangements with one of those agents. U.S. patents are issued by the Assistant Commissioner of Patents.

Contact:

Superintendent of Documents
P.O. Box 371954
Pittsburgh, PA 15250
(412) 512-1800

To register a patent, contact:

Assistant Commissioner for Trademarks, Patent Applications
Washington, DC 20231
(800) 786-9199

BUSINESS INSURANCE

Business insurance protects the contents of a business against loss from various perils, as well as providing protection from lawsuits and other situations in which they might be deemed liable. In addition, key person life and disability insurance should be considered.

CHECKING ACCOUNT

Open a business checking account in the name of the company and utilize this account for deposits of all business revenue and for payment of business expenses.

It will be necessary to have appropriate legal documents, such as Articles of Incorporation, in order to open a business checking account. Check with your financial institution to determine their requirements.

BAR CODING

The Uniform Code Council, Inc., which is not a government agency, assigns a manufacturer's identification code for the purpose of bar coding. Many stores require bar coding on the packaged products they sell. For additional information, contact:

Uniform Code Council, Inc.
P.O. Box 1244
Dayton, OH 45401
(513) 435-3870

IMMIGRATION ACT

The Federal Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 requires all employers to verify the employment eligibility of new employees. The Immigration and Naturalization Service makes available a Handbook for Employers, which provides step-by-step instructions on completion of the form that is required by law when hiring a new employee (Form I-9, Employer Eligibility Verification). For information, contact:

Immigration and Naturalization Service
344 Shipyard Blvd.
Wilmington, NC 28412
(910) 397-2747

MINIMUM WAGE

Most businesses are subject to the federal minimum wage, overtime and child labor laws. Information on these laws and other related federal laws can be obtained from:

U.S. Department of Labor
Wage & Hour Division
2 Princess Street
Wilmington, NC 28401
(910) 815-4947

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