You can remove the "
GetString" and use the below code, it will as you expected
Dim buslicense As String = dr("business license number").ToString
businesslicensecombobox.Items.Add(buslicense)
And if you want to us "
GetString" then in the
select statement check the index for the column and give the index id like
Dim buslicense As String = dr.GetString(0).ToString
businesslicensecombobox.Items.Add(buslicense)