Business.gov Launches First Government-Sponsored Online Community for Small Businesses

WASHINGTON – SBA’s Business Gateway Program announced today the launch of a new Web initiative – http://Community.Business.gov – the first government-sponsored online community built specifically for small businesses.The objective of the Business.gov Community supports the White House’s mission to create a transparent and connected democracy, and aims to provide small business owners, bloggers, and the government with a place to discuss and share information about starting and running a successful business.

An extension of Business.gov, the Business.gov Community combines discussion forums, blogs, an idea exchange, and more, and offers advanced tools for navigating the labyrinth of government resources, policies, laws, and opportunities that impact the small business owner.

In addition to providing a “home” where users can share expertise and unique experiences, the site also provides a pioneering opportunity for small businesses to provide direct input into Business.gov and voice the ways government and the online community can better serve them.

“Over the past year, we have significantly expanded our efforts to engage with small business owners, by giving them easy access to the information they need to run their business,” said Nancy Sternberg, program manager of Business Gateway. “The launch of the Business.gov Community represents a new milestone. Through the application of Web 2.0 technologies, we hope to unite small business owners, industry experts and government, and take the program to a new level of collaborative knowledge-sharing and insight.”

Over the next few months, the Business.gov Community will expand to include additional features and resources that address specific user interests and provide access to the wider pool of government and Business.gov partner resources available to the small business owner.

About Business.govBusiness.gov is managed by the U.S. Small Business Administration in partnership with 21 other federal agencies. This partnership, known as Business Gateway, provides innovative information services to the small business community that save time and money, engage citizens to participate, and enable collaboration across all key levels of government. Launched in 2004, Business.gov provides a single access point to government services and information to help the nation’s businesses with their operations