President Obama has garnered much criticism for his perceived lack of attention to small businesses. He aimed to fight this criticism by announcing plans for a new government website to help small businesses and exporters get information about government resources.
The website, BusinessUSA (no URL yet) will be created within 90 days and was announced by the White House on Oct. 28. Its goal, Obama said, is to help small businesses “drive economic growth and have the most to gain from federal assistance.”
The website will offer federal assistance to business owners by connecting them to the right government agencies when they need information. Eventually, BusinessUSA will be integrated to include relevant information from the state and local governments as well as the private sector.
While many websites like this already exist, they are jumbled throughout the Internet; for example, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, there are 80 different programs that deal with economic development. BusinessUSA will help reorganize all of these programs into a tidy, one-site-fits-all tool for small businesses and exporters.
“When the economy is slow, as it is right now, small businesses have a tough time surviving,” junior government and politics and journalism major Chris Leyden said. “To see the White House get involved directly with these businesses is a sign that they care about the ‘mom and pop’ shop.”
Junior English major Zach Schmid echoed Leyden’s sentiments, stating that anything that makes life for the exporter and small business owner easier can only help the economy.
“If they’re making it easier to export, I like it,” he said.
Some, though, have expressed trepidation about the new government website, as there are already so many websites devoted to its very ideal. The difference here, the White House maintains, is that BussinessUSA will contain all relevant exporting information. No longer will information be lost in some obscure website.
Leyden remains very optimistic about Obama reaching a hand to small businesses.
“Small businesses have a lot on their hands. If the White House can streamline their information gathering process, then this will save them valuable time and, potentially, money,” he said.