TABC Invests in Innovative Technology to Improve Hospitality Industry Hiring Process

The TABC has leveraged the award-winning MyTN app to create a nationwide first digital alcohol server permit available for all 147,000 state alcohol servers. Alcohol servers will now be able to add their state-issued permit into the wallet of their smartphones. This digital permit will allow hospitality employers to verify permit status immediately and hire future candidates without delay.

NASHVILLE, TN, – All of Tennessee’s 147,000 permitted alcohol servers can now add their state-issued alcohol server permit to their Android or iPhone mobile wallet. Through a partnership between the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) and the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration’s Strategic Technology Solutions (STS) division, this new feature will significantly improve the hiring process for the hospitality industry. Previously, hospitality employers would have to communicate with the TABC to verify that an alcohol server permit was valid. This free app will instantly update permits when they expire, allowing both future employees and employers real-time verification of permit status and saving time spent waiting on a person-to-person confirmation.

The TABC server permit is the first mobile phone wallet feature nationwide for state professional or regulatory permits. The highly complex two-year project required coordination from information technology teams from both the TABC and STS. Permit applicants will first apply using the TABC Retail Licensing and Permitting System (RLPS) online application portal introduced in 2018. After approval, the permittee will interface with the easy-to-use MyTN app to add their permit to their smartphone wallet.

Russell Thomas, TABC Executive Director, said, “We work hard to be leaders in technology and innovation. Very few states have a successful online application system as we do in Tennessee. And no other state has a digital permit for alcohol servers. We are pleased to partner with the hospitality industry by investing in technology to ensure they can spend as much time as possible making their businesses successful.”

For more information about Tennessee’s mobile app connecting citizens to state services, please visit www.mytn.gov.

For more information about the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission, please visit www.tn.gov/abc.

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