Action Hero Arrives to Bailout the U. S. Economy

Larger Than Life Super Hero Takes Aim at Rescuing Small Business

Exeter, NH | December 2008 - If there was ever a time when an action hero was needed, it is now.

Small business is the backbone of the U.S economy and yet it is this very sector of society that continues to bear the brunt of skyrocketing healthcare and energy costs, and now the credit crunch. While big business CEOs earning multi-million dollar salaries per year are flying into Washington in private jets to ask for a financial bailout, small business owners are being declined loans; their credit lines are being discontinued and they are struggling to meet payroll.

The big 3 auto makers argue that millions of jobs will be lost if they are not rescued. Yet, with every small business only laying off 1 employee each, there would be an immediate loss of some 30,000,000 jobs across the country, an undesirable outcome as well. Unlike big business, however, small business lacks the collective voice to line up in DC and argue for a government handout. Without such a voice and given the scope of the job where small businesses are geographically dispersed and needs are diverse, what may be required is a true super hero.

As if on cue, soaring through cyberspace appears Captain Buz, the concept of a public/private networking initiative called Buzgate.org (www.Buzgate.org) launched by Knowledge Institute, a New Hampshire-based think tank specializing in facilitating collaboration on behalf of small business development and education.

"Running a small business at any time can be a daunting task," says Deborah Osgood, cofounder of Knowledge Institute and chief architect behind Buzgate.org. "Given the current state of the economy and the fact that thousands of targeted assistance programs are available at the federal, regional and local levels to help entrepreneurs, it made sense to create a super hero to take on the job of facilitating collaboration between government, big business and economic development agencies to rescue small business."

Captain Buz has achieved something that has never been done before on a national scale - the aggregation, translation and cataloging of these thousands of free and low-cost small business assistance programs so that they can be discovered, understood and accessed at the local level in 50 state-based resource networks, as well as Washington DC and Puerto Rico. Any individual can visit www.Buzgate.org at no charge and select a network to learn about the myriad of business development resources offered by such leading agencies as the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), U.S. Veterans Administration (VA), U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development (USDA) and many others.

Traditionally, many of these resources have been marketed using acronyms or referred to as economic development programs making them difficult for businesses to identify, access and understand. To overcome this obstacle, Captain Buz created a standardized set of commonly used business terms such as business funding, business credit, marketing, import/export assistance, advocacy and training, which allows individuals to learn about and navigate needed assistance more intuitively.

"When doing a Google search for key words, Free Small Business Help, a business person can expect to receive over 27.2 million options," said Osgood. "Captain Buz eliminates the daunting task of drilling down to learn which ones might be suitable by organizing resources based on commonly used terms to describe business focused interests and needs. This includes core menu navigation labels reading free business help and free business solutions, as well as starting, growing, funding, training, networking and succeeding in business."

When the economic crisis began, Captain Buz launched a blog at http://buzgate.wordpress.com/ to publish a series of small business tips for how to minimize spending, cut operational costs, leverage public business assistance programs and increase business development efforts. When U.S. SBA-backed business loans to small business began to decline, Captain Buz was busy informing entrepreneurs about alternative funding mechanisms such as regional development programs, merchant advances, factoring and sources of angel investors.

To learn more about Captain Buz and his penchant for being at the right place at the right time with the right approach relative to the needs of the small business community and U.S. economic and social vitality, visit www.Buzgate.org.

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About BUZGate.org
BUZGate.org (the Business Utility Zone Gateway) is a public/private initiative that serves as a resource and referral network for the nation's millions of small businesses. BUZGate was created by William and Deborah Osgood, founders of the Knowledge Institute, and recognized leaders in small business development and education. BUZGate's resources are available to users at no cost. The site is fully supported by private sponsorships. Last year, more than 2 million users turned to BUZGate.org for advice and guidance. Visit www.BUZGate.org for more information.

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