6 ms·

What is an expediter? I just assumed that small-businesses aren't shut down en-masse because the flip-side to impossible red-tape is lax-enforcement. I suppos

What is an expediter? I just assumed that small-businesses aren't shut down en-masse because the flip-side to impossible red-tape is lax-enforcement. I suppose that corporate retail establishments have lawyers retained to do this stuff. Are they doing something different?

bradleyjg 5y ago
An expediter could be a law firm but doesn’t have to be. Often they employ former city employees. Expediters are experts at navigating the city bureaucracy and getting whatever license or permit is required. They are most commonly used by developers and bars but can be useful for all sorts of businesses.
- oh_sigh 5y ago
  What does "navigation" mean here? How does one navigate a system if they say call or email us, and when you call or email them, they ignore you? Is "navigate" just a euphemism for having a personal connection on the inside that you can get favors done by?
  - makeitdouble 5y ago
    If we’re talking about developpers, “navigation” would be straight bribing I guess.
  - rtkwe 5y ago
    It doesn't have to be personal favors, a lot of issues are knowing who to bug, how to effectively bug them to get what you want done, and the right answers to any regulatory questions. A lot of time at work half the fight of getting something done for me is finding the right person to talk to to get the request information we need to file.
  - bradleyjg 5y ago
    As rtkwe says, it can mean a range of things. Some are relatively innocuous like knowing what form to fill out, others are borderline like having worked with the relevant people before and having built up some good will, and there have been cases of outright corruption.
foolinaround 5y ago
similar to assassins, i guess they do the dirty work of greasing on your behalf, so your hands stay clean, your job gets done, and all's well in the kingdom. Folks from 3rd world nations understand this very well.
kristjansson 5y ago
Someone you’d call a fixer if they weren’t in the US
EricE 5y ago
>What is an expediter? A necessary evil and often a lot cheaper than the whole lawyer route. Can be something as benign as someone who will go stand in line and do time consuming bureaucratic queuing on your behalf all the way to folks who have relationships within the bureaucracy and can get things flowing.
LordAtlas 5y ago
A nice way to say getting someone to do the greasing palms work for you.

bradleyjg 5y ago

An expediter could be a law firm but doesn’t have to be. Often they employ former city employees. Expediters are experts at navigating the city bureaucracy and getting whatever license or permit is required. They are most commonly used by developers and bars but can be useful for all sorts of businesses.

oh_sigh 5y ago
What does "navigation" mean here? How does one navigate a system if they say call or email us, and when you call or email them, they ignore you? Is "navigate" just a euphemism for having a personal connection on the inside that you can get favors done by?
- makeitdouble 5y ago
  If we’re talking about developpers, “navigation” would be straight bribing I guess.
- rtkwe 5y ago
  It doesn't have to be personal favors, a lot of issues are knowing who to bug, how to effectively bug them to get what you want done, and the right answers to any regulatory questions. A lot of time at work half the fight of getting something done for me is finding the right person to talk to to get the request information we need to file.
- bradleyjg 5y ago
  As rtkwe says, it can mean a range of things. Some are relatively innocuous like knowing what form to fill out, others are borderline like having worked with the relevant people before and having built up some good will, and there have been cases of outright corruption.

foolinaround 5y ago

similar to assassins, i guess they do the dirty work of greasing on your behalf, so your hands stay clean, your job gets done, and all's well in the kingdom. Folks from 3rd world nations understand this very well.

kristjansson 5y ago

Someone you’d call a fixer if they weren’t in the US

EricE 5y ago

>What is an expediter? A necessary evil and often a lot cheaper than the whole lawyer route. Can be something as benign as someone who will go stand in line and do time consuming bureaucratic queuing on your behalf all the way to folks who have relationships within the bureaucracy and can get things flowing.

LordAtlas 5y ago

A nice way to say getting someone to do the greasing palms work for you.