Toppenish joins BLS; valley neighbors to follow

A trio of Yakima Valley cities is poised to connect their local business licensing programs with the state’s Business Licensing Service (BLS). Over the next two weeks, Toppenish, Granger, and Grandview will link up with BLS, the one-stop shop for state and local business licensing.

Local Yakima Valley businesses, including Blue Sky Market in Toppenish, will immediately experience the benefits of the new licensing partnership. The popular grocery store has greeted customers for decades while renewing annual state licenses for services such as beer, wine and lottery sales separately from their local business license. The partnership with BLS will enable the market to renew its Toppenish business license in the same process as its required state licenses.

“We like this improvement,” said Michael Mayer, Blue Sky Market owner and manager. “Whenever you can streamline the process, write one check, and remove extra steps, that’s one less thing for us employers to worry about.”

The Blue Sky Market's Mabton location will get the same boost next year when that nearby city becomes a BLS partner.

BLS serves more than 100 city partners, including those stretching along the Yakima River from Ellensburg to the Tri-Cities. Nearly 20 valley communities, including Yakima, are now or will soon be BLS partners.