Business Offerings for Individuals

Entrepreneurship

IBM is partnering with the International Finance Corporation to offer a Small Business Toolkit.
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AAFA - The American Apparel & Footwear Association has partnered with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to provide a toolkit that provides companies with specific steps they can take to prevent their products and services from being counterfeited or pirated.

BT Global Services

BT created the inclusive design toolkit to help designers develop mainstream products and/or services that are accessible to and useable by as many people as possible without the need for special adaptations.

BusinessOwnerSpace

Small Business Resource in San Jose area that provides online checklist and guidance for helping individuals start small businesses.

Fairmount Minerals and Subsidiaries

Fairmount Minerals, Ltd. will advance the education of current and future business leaders in sustainability through two gifts, totaling $2.4 million, to the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. The gift will allow Weatherhead to add extensively to its work in social entrepreneurship and business sustainability.

FirstEnergy

First Energy corporation provides services for new business owners like an internet mapping portal that can search for featured land sites and commercial buildings as well as demographic and business analysis reports. Additionally, their Economic Development staff  works to ensure a project’s success, putting business owners in touch with their partners in the public and private sector for all the services needed. They can guide owners through the entire process, from obtaining financing and meeting government regulations to maximizing efficiency—all at no cost.

Hewlett-Packard

The Graduate Entrepreneurship Training through IT (GET-IT) program seeds entrepreneurial energy and develops business and IT skills in young people and recent graduates, age 16-25. Operating in 25 countries, GET-IT comprises a network of 70 training centers in communities with low-income areas, high unemployment rates and limited access to job opportunities.

HP invests in GET-IT to help young people begin professional careers and launch new businesses. The program is run in collaboration with the Micro-Enterprise Acceleration Institute (MEA-I) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Africa. HP and these organizations plan to grow GET-IT to reach more than half a million students by 2010.

IBM

IBM has joined the International Finance Corporation with their Small Business Toolkit, which is a global web portal with 27 global and local sites in 14 different languages providing business, financial, legal advice, etc. With IBM’s assistance, they have opened the door even wider for small entrepreneurs to have the same technological advances and a web platform that includes web conferencing, blogging, group calendar, and quizzes. It also features content syndication which allows business owners to share information more readily, and multilingual business directories to help businesses connect globally, regionally, and globally.

With Express Advantage, medium-sized businesses have access to IBM hardware and software at competitive prices, including concierge phone service where business owners can get help and connect with resources. Express Advantage’s built in flexability offers a wide range of soulutions specifically designed for your sized business.

Intuit

Intuit’s “Small Business United” campaign features a stimulus package aimed at helping America’s 27 million small businesses save money, gets more customers, and save time.  This includes free software and services, grants to small businesses, and financial donations to organizations that help budding entrepreneurs.

Kiva

Kiva, an organization that allows people to make personal loans to other individuals for startup business, recently launched in the US.  The international organization has helped thousands of people worldwide and helps people who were previously denied bank loans the money they need.

KPMG

KPMG is providing information on current issues on their website which is currently dominated with economic recovery.  Their web portal ”Succeeding in turbulent times” is a resource for individuals and businesses who have questions in these uncertain economic times.

New Jersey Natural Gas

NJ Natural Gas has teamed up with the New Jersey Economic Development Authority to help finance loans of up to $200,000 for startup capital and real estate costs for small businesses owned by women and minorities.

PNC Financial

PNC is continuing to make credit available to qualified borrowers, including enhance calling efforts on small businesses and corporations, promotions offered with special financing rates and responding to increased loan demand for first mortgages. PNC has reaffirmed and renewed loans and lines of credit focused on early identification of loan modification candidates and is working closely, where appropriate, with customers who are experiencing financial hardship to set up new repayment schedules, loan modifications, and forbearance programs.

7-Eleven Inc.

Convenience store retailer 7-Eleven Inc. is offering discounted franchise fees to retired or separated veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces.