diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index f09f2c467..c77ce83b1 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,26 +1,62 @@
+MY_USER := $(shell id -u)
+MY_GROUP := $(shell id -g)
+ME := $(MY_USER):$(MY_GROUP)
+
+BACKEND_CONTAINER ?= spiffworkflow-backend
+BACKEND_DEV_OVERLAY ?= spiffworkflow-backend/dev.docker-compose.yml
+
 FRONTEND_CONTAINER ?= spiffworkflow-frontend
 FRONTEND_DEV_OVERLAY ?= spiffworkflow-frontend/dev.docker-compose.yml
 
-dev-env:
-	docker compose -f docker-compose.yml \
-		-f $(FRONTEND_DEV_OVERLAY) \
-		build
+DOCKER_COMPOSE ?= RUN_AS=$(ME) docker compose $(YML_FILES)
+IN_BACKEND ?= $(DOCKER_COMPOSE) run $(BACKEND_CONTAINER)
+IN_FRONTEND ?= $(DOCKER_COMPOSE) run $(FRONTEND_CONTAINER)
 
-start-dev:
-	docker compose -f docker-compose.yml \
-		-f $(FRONTEND_DEV_OVERLAY) \
-		up -d
+YML_FILES := -f docker-compose.yml \
+		-f $(BACKEND_DEV_OVERLAY) \
+		-f $(FRONTEND_DEV_OVERLAY)
+
+all: dev-env start-dev be-tests-par
+	@/bin/true
+
+build-images:
+	$(DOCKER_COMPOSE) build
+
+dev-env: build-images fe-npm-i be-recreate-db
+	@/bin/true
+
+start-dev: stop-dev
+	$(DOCKER_COMPOSE) up -d
 
 stop-dev:
-	docker compose -f docker-compose.yml \
-		-f $(FRONTEND_DEV_OVERLAY) \
-		down
+	$(DOCKER_COMPOSE) down
+
+be-recreate-db:
+	$(IN_BACKEND) ./bin/recreate_db clean
+
+be-sh:
+	$(IN_BACKEND) /bin/bash
+
+be-tests:
+	$(IN_BACKEND) poetry run pytest
+
+be-tests-par:
+	$(IN_BACKEND) poetry run pytest -n auto -x --random-order
 
 fe-lint-fix:
-	docker exec -it $(FRONTEND_CONTAINER) npm run lint:fix
+	$(IN_FRONTEND) npm run lint:fix
+
+fe-npm-i:
+	$(IN_FRONTEND) npm i
 
 fe-sh:
-	docker exec -it $(FRONTEND_CONTAINER) /bin/bash
+	$(IN_FRONTEND) /bin/bash
 
-.PHONY: dev-env start-dev stop-dev \
-	fe-lint-fix fe-sh
+take-ownership:
+	sudo chown -R $(ME) .
+
+.PHONY: build-images dev-env \
+	start-dev stop-dev \
+	be-recreate-db be-sh be-tests be-tests-par \
+	fe-lint-fix fe-npm-i fe-sh \
+	take-ownership
diff --git a/spiffworkflow-backend/dev.Dockerfile b/spiffworkflow-backend/dev.Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..72e20f11d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spiffworkflow-backend/dev.Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+FROM python:3.12.1-slim-bookworm
+
+WORKDIR /app
+
+RUN apt-get update \
+ && apt-get install -y -q \
+    gcc libssl-dev libpq-dev default-libmysqlclient-dev \
+    pkg-config libffi-dev git-core curl
+
+RUN pip install --upgrade pip
+RUN pip install poetry==1.6.1 pytest-xdist
+
+COPY pyproject.toml poetry.lock .
+RUN poetry install --no-root
+
+COPY ./ ./
+RUN poetry install --only-root
+
+CMD ["./bin/run_server_locally"]
diff --git a/spiffworkflow-backend/dev.docker-compose.yml b/spiffworkflow-backend/dev.docker-compose.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..547d6b89e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spiffworkflow-backend/dev.docker-compose.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+
+services:
+  spiffworkflow-backend:
+    build:
+      context: spiffworkflow-backend
+      dockerfile: dev.Dockerfile
+    #
+    # TODO: would like to figure out the permissions issue that is preventing this
+    #
+    #user: "${RUN_AS}"
+    environment:
+      FLASK_DEBUG: "1"
+      SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_DATABASE_URI: ""
+      SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_ENV: "local_development"
+      SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_LOAD_FIXTURE_DATA: ""
+    volumes:
+      - ./spiffworkflow-backend:/app
diff --git a/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/config/unit_testing.py b/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/config/unit_testing.py
index 26824dbac..e15a539ea 100644
--- a/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/config/unit_testing.py
+++ b/spiffworkflow-backend/src/spiffworkflow_backend/config/unit_testing.py
@@ -5,10 +5,9 @@ from os import environ
 TESTING = True
 SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_LOG_TO_FILE = environ.get("SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_LOG_TO_FILE", default="true") == "true"
 
-SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_PERMISSIONS_FILE_NAME = environ.get(
-    "SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_PERMISSIONS_FILE_NAME", default="unit_testing.yml"
-)
+SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_PERMISSIONS_FILE_NAME = "unit_testing.yml"
 
+SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_URL = "http://localhost:7000"
 SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_OPEN_ID_SERVER_URL = "http://localhost:7000/openid"
 SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_OPEN_ID_CLIENT_ID = "spiffworkflow-backend"
 SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_OPEN_ID_CLIENT_SECRET_KEY = "JXeQExm0JhQPLumgHtIIqf52bDalHz0q"  # noqa: S105
diff --git a/spiffworkflow-frontend/dev.docker-compose.yml b/spiffworkflow-frontend/dev.docker-compose.yml
index 37669061c..3e5e5d87f 100644
--- a/spiffworkflow-frontend/dev.docker-compose.yml
+++ b/spiffworkflow-frontend/dev.docker-compose.yml
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ services:
     build:
       context: spiffworkflow-frontend
       dockerfile: dev.Dockerfile
+    user: "${RUN_AS}"
     environment:
       HOST: "0.0.0.0"
       PORT: "${SPIFFWORKFLOW_FRONTEND_PORT:-8001}"