ASBDC Chicago: business.gov

By -

I went to the business.gov booth and asked them, "You have a good service, so why don't people know about you?" The person at the booth shrugged and said, "I just don't know."

And that was before I learned that this SBA business gateway had won a "Prestigious Search Engine Award", the ONLY government program to win:

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Business Gateway Program was selected by the Search Engine Strategies (SES) Conference for the prestigious Best Use of Local Search award on August 20, 2008, the only government finalist in any category. Business Gateway was selected over two private sector companies.

In celebration of its 10th anniversary, SES incorporated its first annual awards, honoring 15 outstanding “search marketers.” The Business Gateway Program was selected as the winner of the “Best Use of Local Search” category because of its unique solution for handling geographically oriented search queries. Business Gateway is a cross-agency program providing small businesses with a single access point – www.business.gov – to easily find government information, including forms and compliance assistance resources
and tools.

Business.gov uses the Google search engine and is able to improve upon it by intelligently reading a user’s query for geographic context (city, state, zip code). The Business.gov search feature returns only the most relevant results that align with the specific geographic area for which a user is seeking
information.

“This award demonstrates SBA’s commitment to providing innovative services to the small business community,” said Sandy K. Baruah, Acting Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration. “We are proud of the work Business.gov has done to help our nation’s businesses.”

The SES Award is one of the most recent of eight noteworthy award recognitions for the Business Gateway Program this year. Nancy Sternberg, the Business Gateway Program Manager, comments on the continued success of Business.gov: “It is truly an honor to be gaining so much recognition for doing something we at Business.gov feel so passionate about. At the end of the day, as long as we’re saving business owners’ time and money, we’ve done our jobs. These awards are icing on the cake.”


About Search Engine Strategies
Search Engine Strategies is the leading global conference and exposition dedicated to search engine marketing, optimization, and online advertising tactics and best practices. The conference is held annually over five days in San Jose, CA, attracting top industry leaders. SES is the single most important, relevant conference in the search engine marketing industry.

About Business.gov
Business.gov is the official business link to the U.S. Government, and is managed by the U.S. Small Business Administration in partnership with 21 other federal agencies. This partnership, known as Business Gateway, serves as an incubator of technologies designed to improve the delivery of services and information to the nation’s small business community. Originally launched in 2004, Business.gov provides a single access point to government services and information to help the nation's businesses with their operations.

Photos (c) 2008 by Mary Hoffman.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New York State County ZIP Codes

By -
The Empire State Development Library created a list of the NYS County zip codes arranged alphabetically. "Please note: Zip codes bear no relation to county or other administrative boundaries. They are established by the U.S. Postal Service for mail delivery. In many cases a zip code may cover areas in more than one county." For instance, 10466 is primarily a Bronx ZIP Code, but it also appears in part of Westchester County. Albany County, NY (county) Zip Code(s): 12007 12009 12023 12041 12046 12047 12053 12054 12055 12059 12067 12077 12083 12084 12110 12120 12122 12143 12147 12158 12159 12183 12186 12189 12193 12202 12203 12204 12205 12206 12207 12208 12209 12210 12211 12303 12304 12309 12469 Allegany County, NY (county) Zip Code(s): 14060 14065 14536 14708 14709 14711 14714 14715 14717 14721 14727 14735 14739 14744 14754 14777 14802 14803 14804 14806 14807 14813 14822 14836 14846 14880 14884 14895 14897 Bronx County, NY (county) Zip Code(s): 10034 10039 10451 10452 10453 1...
Read more

Starting a Mobile Food Concession Business? Be Sure to Follow the Rules of the Road

By -
Want to take your restaurant on the road? Interested in starting a food-service business that affords lower overhead costs than a bricks and mortar restaurant? Starting a mobile food concession business has its advantages – the rent is cheaper, staff overhead is lower, and you can move to follow the profits. But it also has its challenges – weather, vehicle breakdowns, and seasonality, to name a few. And don’t forget, starting a business or expanding into new markets, particularly with on-board food, means you’ll also have to heed laws and regulations that apply when you take your business to the streets. Here’s what you need to know about operating your concession business within the law: 1. Apply for Licenses and Permits Any business needs a license or permit to operate legally, but going mobile requires you to get permits for all the cities and counties where you operate, not just your static business address (which may be your main place of business or your home-based HQ). ...
Read more

Beware credit counseling services like Clear Your Debt LLC

By -
An advisor at one of our regional centers asked me to share some information he learned while working with a client last week. During the course of the counseling session, the client revealed she had signed up with a credit counseling service, Clear Your Debt LLC, from Austin, TX. The advisor was concerned when he read the contract the client signed, which prompted him to investigate the company. The Better Business Bureau in Austin told the advisor they had received numerous complaints against Clear Your Debt LLC. Though Clear Your Debt promised financing, counseling and other assistance, the advisor’s conclusion - after reading their confusing contract and talking to the BBB - was that the client would pay $15,000 for basically nothing. At that point, the advisor encouraged the client to return the contract she signed and cancel the agreement (this was within 3 days of the client signing the agreement). The advisor called me and asked that I share the information with other SBDC advi...
Read more