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Youngsville seeing an increase in business permits

Posted at 11:10 PM, Jan 11, 2019
and last updated 2019-01-12 00:45:10-05

Youngsville’s population is booming, and that means so is business. Mayor Ken Ritter says business permits were up 16% since last year. Some new business owners say there is a secret behind starting a business in the city.

The secret lies behind the doors of City Hall. Mayor Ken Ritter and the council have agreed to waive all business permit fees through 2019. They believe in allowing business owners to save their money up front and be more successful later.

Lyle Owens just packed up his barbershop in Lafayette’s River Ranch for a fresh start and a new look in Youngsville.

“It’s a growing community. There’s a lot of entrepreneurial-type spirit here, where everybody wants to get involved in the community,” Owens said.

He says the city is full of up-and-coming businesses and the place where so many people want to be.

“Expansion and growth. It’s just really good for business,” Owens said.

Like the barbershop, new owners of Home and Party store say they picked Youngsville for similar reasons.

“We were also looking for a house in this area. We also know this is one of the fastest growing areas in the state, so if you’re going to open a business, you want to get in at the start of an explosion,” Robert Hill said.

Susan Armond and Robert Hill wanted to get in on the growth, but they say not having a permit fee was a major help.

“That helped tremendously, especially whenever you’re starting out and you’ve got fees in different areas coming at you. Getting your store stocked is one of the major things, so that’s an absolute plus as far as having that extra money that you would normally have to put out in another town or city,” Susan Armond said.

Mayor Ritter said he welcomes all business owners and that he works to make startup a little easier.

“We wanted people who are investing in our community and business to have that money to invest back into that business whether it’s in new infrastructure, new equipment, new people, new training or profit. So, we wanted to incentivize owners and potential owners to choose Youngsville,” Ritter said.