The federal government launched a beta version of BusinessUSA on Friday, a new site aimed at helping small businesses interact with government.
BusinessUSA will be a one-stop online platform that provides access to information about the full range of government programs and services businesses need to compete globally.
The site was first announced in September as part of President Obama’s American Jobs Act.
BusinessUSA is aimed at making it easier to deal with the federal government when it comes to business-related questions, concerns and services. According to the site, it facilitates a “no wrong door” approach for small businesses and exporters by using technology to quickly connect businesses to the services and information relevant to them, regardless of where the information is located or which agency’s website, call center, or office they go to for help.
“Looking forward, the more federal agencies continue to add resources to BusinessUSA to encompass the full range of business programs and services, the more we will be able to reduce the confusing array of websites that exist today. To ensure that it is oriented towards the needs of the customer, BusinessUSA will be designed, tested, and built with the active feedback of U.S. businesses,” the site says.
In coming weeks and months, BusinessUSA will add new features and content and open new channels of communication to the network such as call centers, email and social media.
The site would also like to integrate state and local governments, as well as related private sector partners.
