HOUSTON — Some business plans stay in binders. Others become businesses. And every once in a while, one grows into a company helping keep some of Texas’ biggest construction projects moving.

That is the entrepreneurial story of Helen Callier, President and Founder of Permit Us Now, who is celebrating 10 years of building a company that specializes in building permit management and regulatory approvals for commercial and government clients.

Callier’s journey has deep roots at Houston City College, where she participated in the HCC Business Plan Competition in 2016 after graduating from Cohort 9 of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program. Already an entrepreneur through Bradlink, LLC, Callier entered the competition with another idea demanding her attention: build a strategic growth plan for a new company called Permit Us Now.

The objective, she has said, was bigger than winning prize money. She wanted the training, advising, accountability and structure necessary to turn an idea into an enterprise.

By summer 2016, Permit Us Now was open for business.

 Helen Callier and Permit-Us-Now-2025 Sponsor Spotlight

Then came Houston’s Super Bowl moment.

Permit Us Now played a permitting role connected to Super Bowl LI, eventually earning recognition among small businesses highlighted in the commemorative NFL Super Bowl program and Texas Monthly. That visibility helped put the company on H-E-B’s radar, leading to work on H-E-B Curbside locations during 2017 and 2018 and a client relationship that has now stretched roughly a decade.

Not bad for something that began with a business plan.

From Houston Startup to Texas-Sized Projects

Today, Permit Us Now’s résumé reads increasingly like a roll call of major Texas institutions.

Through spring 2026, the company reported continued permitting work for H-E-B projects throughout Texas, United Airlines operations and concession projects at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, and projects for BRIZO Construction across Greater Houston, San Antonio and Florida.

Permit Us Now is also providing permitting and regulatory-agency coordination for the $2.1 billion-plus Harris Health John M. O’Quinn Hospital expansion, encompassing its central utility plant, parking garage and heliport. The company continues work associated with the $2.44 billion Austin ISD 2022 Bond Program as well.

And Callier has not forgotten the institution that helped sharpen the blueprint.

Since 2023, Permit Us Now has permitted more than 20 Houston City College System bond projects, with projects continuing during 2026. The company is also expanding staff and using an AI platform to address opportunities across Houston, Austin, San Antonio and North Texas.

Coming Back to Lift the Next Entrepreneur

Perhaps the most Houston part of Callier’s story is that success did not lead her away from HCC — it brought her back.

Since 2017, Callier has repeatedly supported the HCC Business Plan Competition Alumni Circle, serving as a sponsor, speaker, judge, advocate and ambassador, while raising her support in recent years to the Bronze level.

That matters because HCC’s entrepreneurial mission extends well beyond classroom theory. Houston City College says its entrepreneurial initiatives are designed to strengthen the local economy, create jobs and help grow small businesses, including minority-, micro-, veteran-, LGBT- and women-owned enterprises. Its current Business Plan Competition provides entrepreneurs with training, one-on-one advising and opportunities for seed funding.

Callier now marks 20 years with Bradlink, LLC and 10 years with Permit Us Now — proof that entrepreneurial success is rarely an overnight story. It is more often a collection of early mornings, late-night decisions, relationships, calculated risks and the occasional permit that simply refuses to cooperate.

 Helen Callier and Permit-Us-Now employees

For Houston’s next generation of entrepreneurs, Callier’s journey offers a powerful lesson: the business plan is not the finish line. It is the blueprint.

And Helen Callier is still building.

Learn more: PermitUsNow.com
Houston City College Business Plan Competition: HCC Business Plan Competition