Going the Extra Mile for DC Residents and Businesses

Across the Bowser Administration, District Government agencies are working hard to support Mayor Muriel Bowser’s vision of providing every resident with a Fair Shot. At DCRA, we work with thousands of business owners and residents each month, but the people who reach out to us for help aren’t just cases to us. We know that going the extra mile has a big impact on the people and businesses we serve.

Among the people DCRA helped last year was a family in Georgetown who paid a contractor to install solar panels on their roof. The family spent $19,000 to make their house more energy efficient, only to have the contractor disappear and refuse to complete the job or give the family a refund. With limited options, they turned to DCRA for help. An investigator from our Consumer Protection Unit was assigned to the case, and in less than 20 days, our investigator was able to recover $17,000 for the family. Our Consumer Protection Unit was able to recover more than $150,000 last fiscal year.

DCRA’s Small Business Resource Center (SBRC) specializes in simplifying complex situations for customers. Take Charlton Woodyard for example. He started his lifestyle and fashion business, Avi8ted Thoughts in 2019, but had trouble with some of the paperwork needed to get things up and running. He came to the SBRC to help get his business in good standing, and to apply for a grant that could give it a financial boost. In short order, the SBRC helped Mr. Woodyard get a corporate registration and general business license, register with the DC Office of Tax and Revenue, and receive a home occupation permit to allow him to operate his business from his home. Within a month, Woodyard’s business was in good standing and he was able to apply for the grant before its late September deadline.

These are two examples of some of the thousands of residents and businesses DCRA helped last year. Despite the challenges fiscal year 2020 presented, DCRA met or exceeded the goals we set for successfully delivering core services. Take the area of business licensing for example. During the last fiscal year, our goal was to review license applications and process them within one day of submission at least 80% of the time. We met this goal 95.08% of the time, ensuring that entrepreneurs could make their vision a reality as fast as possible.

We’re proud of our staff’s hard work in the last fiscal year, but we’re not slowing down. For example, in the first two months of the new fiscal year, DCRA received nearly 10,000 permit applications — 97% of which have been reviewed, with permits issued.

To learn more about DCRA’s performance and keep track of our progress, check out our agency dashboard.