Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • February 24, 2020 • Hartford Business Journal 19 By Matt Pilon mpilon@hartfordbusiness.com T his summer, businesses and entrepreneurs will see the first major, public-facing example of the Lamont admin- istration's push to modernize and streamline the state's information- technology systems. Business One Stop promises to dras- tically simplify the process of starting a business in Connecticut, which often involves submitting filings and appli- cations, online or in person, to numer- ous state agencies. Perhaps even more frustrating is figuring out exactly what's required in the first place. That's where the cloud-based Business One Stop platform — which is currently being built under a Department of Administrative Services (DAS) contract worth up to $18 million — will come in. By asking an entrepreneur a progressive set of simple questions, the website will spit out a precise regulatory-requirements roadmap, which will differ based on the type of business and other details provided. Similar to how TurboTax asks simple questions and spares tax filers from having to manually pour through often-complicated tax codes (not to mention doing math), the Business One Stop promises to quickly give businesses the informa- tion they need. "It hides all the other complex- ity," said DAS Commissioner Josh Geballe, a former IBM executive and software entrepreneur tapped by Gov. Ned Lamont a year ago to help spearhead efforts to modernize the state's IT and explore other ideas to reduce the cost of state govern- ment. "You don't need to know about the requirements for starting a gas station if you're starting a software company, and vice versa." Business One Stop is a piece of a larger effort to further shrink the number and cost of state employees, or at the very least, reallocate those resources to dif- ferent tasks. At first, busi- nesses that use the online platform will still have to visit separate agency websites to file their applications and other forms, but a series of planned updates over the next few years will make it possible to send that information directly from one virtual location, Geballe said. Connecticut is following in the footsteps of several other states that have taken a one- stop approach to business regis- tration, including Delaware and Indiana, which have seen increases in revenue and faster approval times since launching their systems. Geballe is already beginning to think about a resident-facing version of the platform that could be used to renew a fishing license or apply for state benefits, but he's far from finished with Business One Stop. The initial contract to build the platform, awarded in De- cember to four vendors includ- ing Accenture and Deloitte, will open the door to new and more efficient ways of shar- ing information with companies once they are up and running, he said. Geballe, who was CEO of Bran- ford-based laboratory software maker Core Informatics when it was acquired in 2017 by Thermo Fisher Scientific for $94 million, envisions future upgrades that further leverage all information collected and shared between various agencies and Busi- ness One Stop, making state commu- nication with companies smarter and more automated. Geballe said agency data is largely siloed today. Companies would be able to login to view custom-tailored updates, curated with the help of artificial-intelligence tools, such as reminders about license and permit renewals, new state laws that affect employers, and financial of- ferings and other assistance from the state or federal government. "We'll have a much more modern ability to serve information intelli- gently," Geballe said. Slimming government A more pleasant and convenient government experience for busi- nesses isn't the state's only goal when it comes to Business One Stop. By increasing the number of online, self-service transactions that might otherwise be handled over the phone or in person by state agency employees — something the state has already been doing at the departments of Motor Vehicles and Consumer Protection and other agencies — Business One Stop also aims to shrink the state's workforce. Driving the momentum is a potential wave of state-employee retirements in the next few years. In mid-2022, upwards of 15,000 work- ers will become eligible for retire- ment, according to the state, though only around 5,000 people are likely to leave the workforce right away. That, combined with worries about future budget deficits, is driv- ing Lamont's examination of various ways to streamline government in the years ahead. "We're preparing for it with a corresponding sense of urgency," Geballe said. "We will see savings in the coming years as agencies use this platform to sunset legacy systems and reduce the manual workload of state staff," he added. DAS is working with Lamont's budget office, the Office of Policy and Management, and others to identify strategies, whether tech- nological or structural, that could lessen the need to backfill state posi- tions as they become open. To that end, OPM recently sought out consultants to study how the state can ensure its executive branch agencies continue to operate in the near term through the coming re- tirement wave, and recommend op- portunities for efficiencies and cost savings in the longer term. Besides technology and increasing automa- tion, the final report could include ideas like merging agencies and shifting or eliminating job duties. The administration has already been working on organizational changes. For example, a move last year to centralize more than 300 human resources employees across multiple Shrinking state workforce Technology modernization work at the Department of Administrative Services is expected to be paired with an effort to find efficiencies in state agencies that could help reduce the need to replace retiring workers in the coming years. Here are the five largest state agencies as of June 2019: Agency Headcount Dept. of Corrections 5,608 Dept. of Mental Health and Addiction Services 2,923 Dept. of Children and Families 2,888 Dept. of Transportation 2,758 Dept. of Developmental Services 1,909 Source: Office of Policy and Management Cutting Red Tape State readies one-stop regulatory shop for business owners, entrepreneurs Continued on page 20 >> From his 15th floor perch at 450 Columbus Blvd. in Hartford, DAS Commissioner Josh Geballe is playing a key role in technology upgrades that aim to streamline the state's workforce and make it easier for companies to do business in the state. HBJ PHOTO | STEVE LASCHEVER

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