Information Resources
The PA Small Business Development Center’s Business
Information Resources provides
links that connect to hundreds of useful Web sites for small businesses. Included
are sites containing
links for directories, guides, search utilities, references, entrepreneurship,
management, company
directories, markets, demographics, statistics, news articles, commercial
database vendors, PA
resources, Federal resources, organizations & associations, technical
information, standards,
patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade leads, procurement, web commerce, international
business,
environment, energy-efficiency, pollution prevention, and Y2K issues.
http://www.pasbdc.org/information
The PA SBDC's website now contains a very informative FAQ section about
starting and doing business within Pennsylvania.
http://www.pasbdc.org/faq/
Pennsylvania - Open for Business
The goal of this web site is to provide you with a fast and efficient way
to comply with Pennsylvania's various statutory pro and filing requirements
involved in establishing a business. To help with the process, a range
of business start-up assistance tools and information on finding incentives
are included on this site. http://www.paopen4business.state.pa.us/
Adobe Acrobat Reader
is free, and freely distributable, software that lets you view and print
Portable Document Format (PDF) files. Acrobat Reader also lets you fill in
and submit PDF forms
online. http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html#reader
- Federal Government
Agencies:
U.S. Department of Labor
is designed to assist small businesses in complying with rules, regulations
and laws enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor.
http://www.dol.gov/
Environmental Protection Agency
has news, publications, and information
for small
businesses.
www.epa.gov/smallbusiness/
Internal Revenue Service
links you directly to downloadable tax forms and publications.
Adobe Acrobat Reader (see above for the link) may need to be installed
in order to print
the forms and publications.
http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/formspubs/lists/0,,id=97817,00.html
Occupational Safety & Health
Administration has safety regulatory
information.
www.osha.gov/index.htm
Procurement:
Federal Acquisition Jumpstation
is your link to federal acquisitions on the Internet.
http://nais.nasa.gov/fedproc/home.html
The Federal Marketplace
has information regarding bids and contracts with the
Federal Government and also contains an extensive Federal Vendor Directory.
http://www.fedmarket.com/
The On-Line Community for Government
Contractors has information about
government bids, regulations, how-to’s, trade shows, job listings, etc.
http://www.govcon.com/
Funding Sources
and Resources
Sources:
The Ben Franklin Technology
Partners invest in technology companies
and provide technical engineering assistance.
http://www.benfranklin.org/
The Small Business Administration
has information about the various loan programs offered through SBA lending
agencies.
http://www.sba.gov/financing/
Fixed rate financing, at lower than
market rates, is directly available through SEDA-COG. The purchase
of land, buildings, equipment, and providing working capital are among the
requests eligible for financial assistance from SEDA-COG.
http://finance.seda-cog.org
Resources:
All of the sites listed below
contain information, guidelines, and templates to guide you in the creation
of your business plan.
http://www.bplans.com/
http://www.businessplans.org
http://www6.americanexpress.com/smallbusiness/resources/starting/biz_plan/?aexp_nav=sbs_hp_bizplan
http://www.smallbusinessplanguide.com
- Organizations
and Associations
The Association of Small Business
Development Centers assists in promoting,
informing, supporting and continuously improving the SBDC network, which
delivers nationwide
educational assistance to strengthen small/medium business management, thereby
contributing
to the growth of local, state and national economies.
http://www.asbdc-us.org
The Pennsylvania Small Business
Development Centers provide top-notch
management consulting, training and information for small businesses and
prospective entrepreneurs.
http://www.pasbdc.org/
Clinton County Economic Partnership
homepage lists demographics,
economic development opportunities, membership directory, upcoming area
events,
and much more information about the Clinton County
area.- http://www.clintoncountyinfo.com/
The Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce
homepage lists demographics,
economic development opportunities, membership directory, upcoming area
events,
and much more information about the Williamsport/Lycoming County area.
http://www.williamsport.org/
Council on Better Business Bureaus
has resources for businesses and consumers.
http://www.bbb.org/
The Industrial Resource Centers
offer assistance to manufacturing companies.
http://www.imcpa.com/
The Women’s Business Center
offers advice on many issues of interest to all
business owners.
http://www.onlinewbc.gov
PennTAP
offers free scientific and technical assistance to Pennsylvania firms.
http://www.penntap.psu.edu/
SEDA-COG
is a regional development organization providing economic development,
community development, transportation, information management, and energy
conservation services to the counties of Centre, Clinton, Columbia, Juniata,
Lycoming, Mifflin, Montour, Northumberland, Perry, Snyder, and Union.
http://www.seda-cog.org/
TempPA's Business Resource Network includes lots of
county information including tax rates, statistics,
economic developers, and commercial real estate.
http://www.teampa.com/public/scripts/mainmenu.asp
PA Manufacturers' Association features news and legislative information for PA manufacturing.
http://www.pamanufacturers.org
Downtown Lock Haven
is dedicated to improving the
central business district of Lock Haven. http://www.lockhaven.org
- Patents and Trademarks
Copyright Office
has searchable copyrights, forms, and information.
http://www.loc.gov/copyright/
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
has U.S. patents and trademarks, forms and guides.
http://www.uspto.gov/
- PA State Government
Agencies:
PA Department of Agriculture
has statistics, directories, facts, and service descriptions.
http://www.pda.state.pa.us/
PA Department of Community &
Economic Development includes links
to other entrepreneurial assistance programs.
http://newpa.com
PA Department of Environmental
Protection is a resource for environmental
information.
http://www.dep.state.pa.us/
PA Department of Revenue
links you directly to downloadable forms
(PA-100, Sales Tax, Tax Returns,
etc.) and publications. Adobe
Acrobat Reader
(see above for the link) may need to be installed in order to print the
forms and publications.
http://www.revenue.state.pa.us/
PA Department of State
has company name registration, UCC filings, forms,
and information.
http://www.dos.state.pa.us/corps/site/default.asp
PA Department of Labor &
Industry links you directly to downloadable
forms
(New Hires Program, Unemployment Compensation, etc.) and contains
information regarding labor laws and special employment programs.
Adobe
Acrobat
Reader (see above for the link) may need to be installed in order to
print the forms
and publications.
http://www.dli.state.pa.us/
Resources:
Made In PA
and
PA SourceNet are self-registering business to business directories
of PA products.
http://www.mfgGate.com/
http://www.pasourcenet.com/
- Reference Tools
Bizjournals
enables you to locate regional business journals,
view National Industry Reports, and reference many other useful business
resources.
http://www.bizjournals.com/
Smart Business
supersite is "the how-to resources for business" with links to
thousands
of free resources from America's top writers, books and publications geared
specifically
to help you run your business or department.
http://www.smartbiz.com/
Thomas Register is a directory of U.S. and Canadian manufacturers.
http://www.thomasregister.com
Project Vote Smart
is a national non-partisan, non-profit effort that researches, tracks,
and provides to the public independent factual information on over 13,000
candidates and
elected officials. Voting records, campaign issue positions, performance
evaluations by special interests, campaign contributions, backgrounds,
previous experience, and contact information are available.
http://www.vote-smart.org/
Small Business Knowledge Base
has guides and worksheets on starting and managing a small business.
http://www.bizmove.com
Business Owner's Toolkit
- Here you'll find ready-to-use business tools to help you get the job done faster and easier.
http://www.toolkit.cch.com/tools/tools.asp
Quicken.com
has accounting and tax information, forms, and other business planning tools.
http://www.quicken.com/small_business
FindLaw
has legal information, guides, sample forms, and other legal resources.
http://smallbiz.findlaw.com
AllBusiness Directory
has how-to information, forms and agreements.
http://www.allbusiness.com
Articles/Current Business Events:
Inc.
and Money magazines’ sites publish many useful articles about current
issues facing
today’s businessperson, offers valuable resources, tips, and referrals,
and provides informative bulletin boards.
http://www.inc.com/
EntreWorld.org
includes "the best of the best" on the Web about running a small business.
http://www.entreworld.org
Industry Coding Standards:
The North American Industry
Classification System (NAICS) is
the federal
government’s new coding system and is replacing the U.S. Standard Industrial
Classification (SIC) system.
http://www.census.gov/naics/
The Standard Industrial Codes
(SIC) Manual is the federal government’s
outgoing
industrial coding system.
http://www.osha.gov/oshstats/sicser.html
- Statistics and
Demographics
U.S. Bureau of the Census
has all types of statistical information available.
http://www.census.gov/
The FEDSTATS
site is maintained by the Federal Interagency Council on Statistical Policy
to provide easy access to the full range of statistics and information produced
by more than
70 agencies in the United States Federal Government for public use.
http://www.fedstats.gov/
Penn State Data Center
is Pennsylvania’s official data source. The PSDC can provide
you with the latest population estimates and projections and many social,
housing and
economic characteristics of the state and its local components.
http://pasdc.hbg.psu.edu/
The Center for Rural Pennsylvania
is a resource for detailed demographic information for Pennsylvania.
http://www.ruralpa.org
- Training
Workforce and Economic Development
Network of Pennsylvania (WedNetPA)
is a
program sponsored by Pennsylvania offering free job training to in-state
companies that
show solid growth and out-of-state companies that decide to relocate to
the economic-
friendly business climate of Pennsylvania.
http://www.wednetpa.com/
