Crystal Stump (owner and CEO of ABC Consulting and former Virginia ABC Special Agent from the Alcoholic Beverage Authority) explains how to get a ABC license – specifically a Virginia Retail Alcohol License!
Pour yourself a drink; you’re going to need it!
If you are watching this channel because you want to know how to get a Virginia alcohol license, you are in the right place. If you are already a Virginia licensee, we still suggest that you subscribe to our YouTube channel, because we come out with new videos, each week, so that you understand how to navigate the VA ABC and their regulations. Our hope is that this video can save you a lot of money, time and maybe even a criminal record!
The first thing that you need to understand is that the VA ABC Enforcement division is broken down into three smaller divisions that investigate alcohol license applications
- One-day licenses – weddings, birthday parties, festivals, non-profits and special events. They call those “banquets.”
- Retail licensing – gourmet shops, restaurants, convenience stores, and grocery stores.
- Industry – manufacturing facilities for breweries, wineries and distilleries.
If you are applying for a banquet license, for a wedding, that is handled by an agent at the regional level. Those applications are assigned to a tech or an agent and they investigate the application and the venue and approval takes anywhere from 15-30 days. If you have waited until the last minute or need some help making sure your application is approved, visit this link, we’ll help select the right license, make sure your application is fill out completely and properly and submit it for you. There are 10 different kinds of one-day licenses, and we’ll make sure that the right one is selected and that there aren’t any hold ups!
When you are applying for a retail license, you have to know what you are doing. We don’t want you to learn along the way with the VA ABC Authority – they’ll teach you with penalties, hold-ups or even fines (we have seen a fine up to $20,000 for one licensee! Most are between $500-$7,000). We’re going to walk you through the retail process, today. This process is a detailed and lengthy process, and if you do not have the right attention to detail or are unfamiliar with state applications – or if you cannot afford any hold-ups in processing because of improper wording or missing attachments, it makes so much sense to hire us. We walk through the entire process with you, ensuring quick and painless licensing.
The first step you’ll take in Retail ABC Licensing is to print out the application at VA ABC website, fill it out and mail it in. Take filling this application out very seriously – don’t leave out a DUI or an arrest or your criminal history – fill it out correctly and accurately. (You’ll want to get your tracking information as many, many times applications go missing and get lost!) That application package will be reviewed by the License Records Management department first (LRM). Hopefully, there aren’t a lot of errors on it, as it will be mailed back to you. After the LRM reviews the application, a 30-day objection period gets started. All your documents will then be reviewed (your lease agreement, your sales and use tax, your SCC document, your menu, your operating agreement, and all the owners are investigated). Once those documents and people are investigated at a state level, that application will be transferred to the regional office (there are nine of them in the state of Virginia) and assigned to a VA ABC agent. That agent will investigate and approve the license, so at this point you should be ready to open. What does “ready to open” mean? You should have the chairs, stools and the rooms set up for business, you should be trained to serve alcohol, you should have an ABC Manager assigned for any open hours. You should have record keeping in place. You should be ready for a site inspection – to make sure that you qualify for a license.
Once the agent does that on-site inspection, make sure that your staff is all trained to serve alcohol (our online training is only $29.99 and can be taken from any device so that all your employees are ready to go once that license is approved. You need to ALL understand the ABC regulations and rules surrounding alcohol. Take this very seriously – INVEST – if you don’t, you AND your employee can be arrested, Both of you can be fined. And training only costs a modest $29.95. And it could save you thousands in civil penalties.).
Again, the VA ABC Authority will ‘train’ you as you go, with hold ups in your application and even fines. You want licensing to be as quick and painless as possible. And that is why it is so important to have ABC Consulting in your corner! ABC Consulting makes sure that you apply for the right license, that your application is accurate and is worded in ways that the ABC Authority wants it. We want to set you up to get approved. We don’t want to hold anything up or throw it back at you or lose it. It is in OUR best interest to keep that application moving forward, with as few hiccups as possible. If you have the right team in your corner, you can have difficult conversations at your inspection – you’ll be ready for them. You’ll have the right answers, the first time, on your application and for your inspection.
Know the laws and regulations and what you can and cannot do – and have the right team on your side. It is so much easier to stay out of trouble if you know what the VA ABC Authority expects. Getting a license is a process. While getting it approved seems like a mountain that you are climbing, once you are approved, they’ll be other mountains! If you get a temporary license, you’ll need to be able to pass on-site inspections, every month, and your records are going to be audited by the ABC Authority, monthly, too. Start off on the right foot with the VA ABC Authority – do everything the right way, take the steps in the right order and make sure all applications are filled out correctly he first time and that you’re ready for inspections. (Take our training and become a consulting client).
ABC Consulting was created in 2009 after my retirement from the VA Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control Enforcement Division, to help businesses such as yours to run a successful and compliant business. In fact, ABC Consulting was created because of my expertise with alcohol regulation. This business provides as much help and information, as possible, to current and future VA ABC alcohol licensees. If you need an ABC license (or if you want to keep your ABC license), SUBSCRIBE to this channel!
We’d love to help you through your application! We welcome questions and if you haven’t subscribed to our channel, please do! And if you are already enjoying this channel, please click the bell notification – so you’ll get notified of new videos. It will also help other people browsing YouTube to find our channel. ABC Consulting’s channel is for anyone unsure of how to navigate ABC regulations or for anyone who needs to know all the steps of the process.
Let’s talk: 800-785-0161
*Disclaimer: The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this site are for general informational purposes only. Information on this website may not constitute the most up-to-date legal or other information. This website contains links to other third-party websites. Such links are only for the convenience of the reader, user, or browser; ABC Consulting VA, LLC does not recommend or endorse the contents of the third-party sites. Readers of this website should contact their attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular legal matter. No reader, user, or browser of this site should act or refrain from acting on the basis of information on this site without first seeking legal advice from counsel in the relevant jurisdiction. Only your individual attorney can provide assurances that the information contained herein – and your interpretation of it – is applicable or appropriate to your particular situation. The views expressed at, or through, this site are those of the individual authors’ writing in their individual capacities only. All liability with respect to actions taken or not taken, based on the contents of this site, are hereby expressly disclaimed. The content on this posting is provided “as is;” no representations are made that the content is error-free. In no capacity do we represent the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority, IRS, SCC or any other government agency.
