Helping small business navigate government

Posted by Dan Israel, Google Enterprise - Government Products

We just published a case study on the Business Gateway program, a US government initiative that provides a one-stop source of information to help small businesses navigate the government.

This project is noteworthy for a number of reasons. First, the collaboration. Not only does the Business Gateway program involve 21 different federal agencies, but it also provides small businesses access -- with a single query on business.gov -- to resources from thousands of state and local government agencies across the country, using Google Custom Search.

Second, the Business Gateway folks understand that "all business is local" -- to paraphrase Tip O'Neill. Much of what small business owners need to know is specific to where they're located. This website knows when a search includes a geographic term and uses that information to point the user in the right direction. For example, search business.gov for "small business development center, Chicago, IL". Not only does business.gov provide search results from the city of Chicago and Cook County, but it also displays an interactive Google Map to let the small business owner pinpoint available resources in the Chicago area and the rest of the state.

We applaud the folks at the Business Gateway program for giving small businesses such a helpful tool.