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In the earliest days of opening his now well-known restaurant in downtown Sacramento , Patrick Mulvaney wanted to make changes to the building , transforming what had been an informal coffeehouse into his vision of a hospitable , full-service environment . The changes , he thought , were relatively minor . The City of Sacramento , unaccustomed to dealing with small business owners , had other ideas .
“ The first thing they told me was that I needed an architect ,” Mulvaney recalls , which was a deal-breaking $ 50,000 expense for a then-struggling entrepreneur operating on a shoestring budget .
New to Sacramento , Mulvaney realized that he knew far more about satisfying diners than navigating the labyrinth of local government officialdom . “ Government agencies were putting stuff on you without thinking of the consequences ,” he says . “ They didn ’ t take you into account .”
As he searched for help , Mulvaney found a group that represented building contractors that had a reputation for knowing how to unknot bureaucratic bottlenecks . “ People were coming to us asking for help and that ’ s how we got started as an organization ,” says Sacramento lawyer Bill Porter , a founder and the first president of the business public policy advocacy group that eventually became the Sacramento Region Business Association , now known solely as Region Business .
It turned out that Mulvaney was not alone . “ Building inspectors were giving restaurant owners a hard time ,” Porter recalls . “ We made some phone calls on their behalf and got something done in a few hours .”
In the 11 years since that call , Region Business has emerged as a coalition of local businesses that advocate not for any specific industry , but for their vision of the community . “ We feel we have a collective vested interest in making the Capital Region better ,” says James Beckwith , president and CEO of Five Star Bank .
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Now the city is a partner and will tell us what we need to do and how they will help us get there .
Patrick Mulvaney Owner , Mulvaney ’ s B & L
Building strong foundations for Sacramento ’ s business community .
For more than 30 years , Porter Law Group has been doing big things in Sacramento . They take a proactive approach to their clients ’ legal needs , advising on practices to help minimize risk and strengthen positions .
( 916 ) 381-7868 | PORTERLAW . COM
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Photo : Clayton Blakley
September 2022 | comstocksmag . com 97