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The Commerce Department recently unveiled a new online tool to help small- and medium-sized businesses tap into the global marketplace and start exporting.  In partnership with the Small Business Administration, the Commerce Department introduced Six Steps to Begin Exporting at http://www.export.gov/begin. 
 

On this website, businesses can take a self-assessment to begin the six-step process to gauge their readiness to export. The self-assessment is followed by sections on training and conseling programs; resources to create an export business plan; information on conducting market research; assistance for finding foreign buyers; and investigating export financing. 

The self-assessment also directs businesses to individualized local support centers, such as Commerce's U.S. Export Assistance Centers and SBA's Small Business Development Centers.  The Small Business Development Center at Clayton State University can be found at this address: http://business.clayton.edu/SBDC/ and Kennesaw State University at this address: http://coles.kennesaw.edu/sbdc/

 

This online effort supports President Obama's National Export Initiative, which calls for doubling U.S. exports and supporting several million jobs over the next five years. So far this year, U.S. exports have increased nearly 18 percent compared to the same period in 2009.

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