Today, in conjunction with the newly-launched BusinessUSA initiative, the Department of Commerce announced the launch of their business app challenge.  The $10,000 contest challenges app developers to find innovative ways to utilize Commerce and other publicly available data and information to support American businesses. The business app challenge calls on developers to utilize at least one Department of Commerce data set in creating an application that assists businesses and/or improves the service delivery of Business.USA.gov to the business community.  Developers may choose the platform that best suits them. Applicants may design for the web, personal computer, mobile handheld device, or any platform broadly accessible to the open Internet. A list of developer-friendly data sets can be found on the Business Data and Tools page of Data.gov.

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India is a story of growth and opportunity. India’s sustained growth of around 8.0% in 2009-10 and growing dynamism in several of its regional markets have created wide and diverse business prospects for U.S. exporters and investors. With 2011 growth estimates hovering at around 8.6%, India remains one of the fastest growing, dynamic economies in the world.

The current economic downturn has not affected India to the same extent as the United States, though most Indian companies remain apprehensive and are extremely cautious with large expenditures. Worldwide economic difficulties notwithstanding, U.S. multinationals are sold on India and are expanding and deepening their market penetration. U.S. firms with advanced and niche-market products and services are entering the market for the first time, or are replacing legacy distributors appointed in the slow-growth past with more capable and aggressive representatives.

Many smaller American firms have begun to view India as a top anchor market for their products and services as well. The marked rise of U.S. exports to India, the daily business press announcements, the rapidly expanding demand for Commercial Service India matchmaking programs and due diligence services, and the many business development trade missions visiting India all point to India being open for business.

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Initiative Aims to Foster National Teaming Arrangements with Alaskan Native Corporations

David A. Hinson, National Director of the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) at the U.S. Department of Commerce joined Mayor Dan Sullivan at a press conference and ribbon cutting ceremony to open a new satellite center on Tuesday, February 21, 2012. The new satellite center is designed to help minority-owned firms both in Alaska and throughout the country create and retain jobs, increase size, scale and capacity, and build globally competitive firms.

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Over the past three years, business owners and entrepreneurs have told us that they don’t have the time or resources to navigate the maze of government agencies and need a one stop shop where they could go for all the assistance they need at every stage of their development.  As President Obama said in his State of the Union address last month, we need to give U.S. businesses every opportunity and tool to succeed and not a maze to navigate.  And as Secretary Bryson has said multiple times while traveling to manufacturers in Columbus, Norfolk, Pittsburgh, and Minneapolis, we need to support American businesses so they can build their products here in America and sell them everywhere around the world.

This is why the Obama Administration is launching a new online platform, BusinessUSA, to help small businesses and exporters of all sizes find information about available federal programs without having to waste time and resources navigating the federal bureaucracy. BusinessUSA combines information and services from 10 different government agencies through one consolidated website and coordinate telephone support through a single 1-800 number. The BusinessUSA website went live today with hundreds of business resources consolidated in one place including Commerce’s International Trade Agency, Census Bureau, Patent and Trademark Office, several other Commerce bureaus, as well as, multiple other government agencies.

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Green dry cleaners, Green energy. Green puppy food. Green car washes. Green wall paints. Green grease removal.

Green: it’s everywhere.  It’s taught in the first grade.  It’s at the center of many corporate manufacturing and marketing policies. And whether you believe in climate change or still have doubts, consumers are now demanding GREEN.

Adopting environmentally friendly and energy efficient business practices provides numerous benefits to new and existing small business owners looking to control costs, attract customers and become socially responsible. Non-toxic, recycled, organic, energy efficient, reused, eco-friendly, farm-to-table: these terms, and others, all help define the fast-growing green market. 

So what can you do as a small business?  Remember, that regardless of what options you choose, each one of them should and must be connected to your marketing strategy and company messaging.  If you adopt energy efficiency practices, let your customers know; if you are committed to local agriculture, let them know, and if your product contains recycled by-products, let them know.  Four out of five consumers say they are still buying environmentally friendly products and services today – which sometimes cost more – even in the midst of a recovering economy.

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