Salem, Massachusetts
Salem Business Resources
One place for Salem business owners, artists, makers, nonprofits and community partners to find the people, tools and follow-up information that make the City’s systems easier to navigate.
This page is a starting point — not another directory to lose in a bookmark folder, but a practical home for the information, contacts and conversations Salem businesses need.
The first Salem Biz Town Hall brought business owners, artists, makers, nonprofit leaders, cultural organizations, City staff and community partners into the same room around the questions people had actually submitted. We did not solve every question in one morning. We did create a clearer starting point, connect more people to the right names and departments, and build a follow-up resource that keeps the conversation moving.
August 11, 2026 · Peabody Essex Museum
What Salem businesses asked — and what happened next
The conversation moved through the everyday friction points that shape whether a business can keep moving: who to call, where to begin, what is changing and how to get a direct answer.
Parking & transportation
Events & street activation
Tourism & October
Public safety & reporting
Grants & business support
Recording produced by Salem Access Television. Open the recording on YouTube.
Complete community follow-up
Read the Salem Biz Town Hall report and resource guide
The 21-page guide brings the event recap, transcript-grounded questions and answers, City department and City Council contacts, presenting-partner information, resource links, recording and photos into one place.
Start here
Core Salem business resources
Different questions have different owners. These are the strongest starting points for finding the current rule, form, contact or next right person.
Consolidated business resource guide
A printable collection of Salem business-support organizations, contact points and frequently used resources.
Doing Business in Salem
The City’s expanded guide to starting, operating and navigating a business in Salem.
Salem for Business
Business assistance, City contacts and economic-development information collected for Salem businesses.
City of Salem
The official source for current City departments, public notices, ordinances, forms and municipal information.
Town Hall photos
See the people, resource tables and conversations that filled the Peabody Essex Museum Atrium.
Explore Salem
Looking for things to do, local places to support or the people making Salem interesting? Start with the Salem city guide.
Ongoing Salem coverage
Salem This Week
Permits, parking, public meetings and policy can move quickly. Salem This Week is the plain-language Monday rundown of what changed, why it matters and what a Salem business owner should do next.
A plain-language reference
Which board decides what?
Start here when you are not sure who owns the rule, permit or decision in front of you.
City Council
Local laws, fees, budgets and policies that affect how Salem businesses operate.
Licensing Board
Alcohol, entertainment, food-service and other operating licenses for local establishments.
Historical Commission
Exterior work in Salem’s four local historic districts and reviews of historic resources.
Design Review Board
Design details for projects in the downtown urban-renewal area before SRA approval.
Planning Board
Site plans, subdivisions and certain special permits for new development and major changes.
Zoning Board of Appeals
Variances, appeals and zoning relief when a project does not fit standard requirements.
Transportation Commission
Transportation policy, street design, circulation and many parking-related questions.
Board of Health
Food safety, sanitation and public-health rules for businesses and the wider community.
Conservation Commission
Work in or near wetlands, waterways and other protected environmental resource areas.
Stay ahead of it
Four City lists worth being on
Local representation
Your Salem City Councillors
Eleven seats: four at large and one for each of Salem’s seven wards. Names verified against the City’s 2026 council page.
City offices and elected roles can change. Use the official City page for the current roster and contact details.
Do not know where to start?
That is part of what this page is for. Tell us what you are trying to solve, and we will help connect the dots toward the next right person.
Shared work
Town Hall presenting partners
The Salem Biz Town Hall was presented by Peabody Essex Museum (PEM), Creative Collective, Salem Main Streets, Salem Chamber of Commerce, Destination Salem, Salem Partnership and the City of Salem.
Creative Collective served as convener, programming lead, registration lead and moderator. Each organization brought a different lane to the table. The strongest outcome was the intersection: clearer information, stronger connections and a better path to the next right person.
A note about official information: This page and the Town Hall guide are starting points, not complete statements of City code, policy, permitting, funding or eligibility requirements. Confirm current information through the responsible City department, Salem for Business and the City of Salem before acting.
Town Hall guide last revised August 17, 2026. Photo by Kathy Tarantola for Peabody Essex Museum.
