Got Broadband? New SBA Effort Offers Web Help
By Carol Tice Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
OK, so the Small Business Administration's share of the stimulus funding went pretty fast, and some of its hardship-loan programs were kind of a boondoggle. But the Small Business Administration's Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) has a new initiative to help small businesses compete better in the 21st Century.
SCORE has lined up an all-star cast of blue-chip corporate sponsors to help small businesses make better use of broadband technology, including AT&T, Best Buy, Cisco, Constant Contact, Google, HP, Intuit, Microsoft, Skype and Time Warner.
Not sure how that will help the half of all small businesses who don't even think they need a Web site...but for those interested, this new public-private consortium effort launches on Wednesday, April 7. The initiative aims to help small businesses improve their Web literacy and e-commerce knowledge through free and cheap classes and software tools available through the SCORE offices.
If you haven't got the Internet working for your business, or are wondering how you could better use the Web to grow your business, this could be a low-cost opportunity to find out what the Web can do for you.
What small businesses really need to compete, SCORE says, is broadband.
Yes, you read that right. Not more customers. Not tax breaks. Apparently the secret ingredient that's missing to level the playing field is...high-speed Internet access. SCORE has lined up an all-star cast of blue-chip corporate sponsors to help small businesses make better use of broadband technology, including AT&T, Best Buy, Cisco, Constant Contact, Google, HP, Intuit, Microsoft, Skype and Time Warner.
Not sure how that will help the half of all small businesses who don't even think they need a Web site...but for those interested, this new public-private consortium effort launches on Wednesday, April 7. The initiative aims to help small businesses improve their Web literacy and e-commerce knowledge through free and cheap classes and software tools available through the SCORE offices.
If you haven't got the Internet working for your business, or are wondering how you could better use the Web to grow your business, this could be a low-cost opportunity to find out what the Web can do for you.
