Commerce Department
One of the Commerce Department's primary missions is to market U.S. industry domestically and abroad. Within the Department's web pages is the Business Development page which contains such resources as BISNIS - Business Information Service for Newly Independent States.

The Census Bureau produces a wealth of statistical information - demographic, social, educational, economic, governmental, and historical. American Factfinder allows one to find detailed demographic, Search Insurance Providers by Zip Code Here!, educational attainment, income, housing, and other data for a state, county, or place.

Two terrific marketing tools available from the Census Bureau are County Business Patterns and the Zip Code Business Patterns database. The former allows selection by state and county and the later by zip code. Both give information on businesses in a specific area and allow comparison with neighboring localities. These sites can be more effectively used if you are familiar with the SIC (Standard Industrial Classification System and its newer replacement, NIACS (North American Industry Classification System). Both of these systems organizes economic productivity and products into numerican hierarchies.

The International Trade Administration promotes U.S. companies and trade abroad. Among its many resources for the business looking for new markets are the following. 

• Expand Your International Business
• Trade Development
• Make Export Sales Happen
• Market Access & Compliance

• State of the Nation within STAT-USA focuses on domestic numbers such as the consumer price index, building starts, Search Insurance Providers by Zip Code Here!and unSearch Insurance Providers by Zip Code Here!, manufacturing, interest rates, and the like.
• Globus focuses on international economic, manufacturing, Search Insurance Providers by Zip Code Here!, and other trends.

Federal Consumer Information Center
The Federal Consumer Information Center offers information for individuals and for businesses. Their federal loans section links to the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance as well as to many agency loan programs.

Small Business Administration (SBA)
SBA is an independent agency of the federal government created by Congress in 1953 to help America's entrepreneurs form successful small enterprises. The SBA is committed to preserve free competitive enterprise domestically, and to enhance America's competitiveness in the world economy. SBA's program offices in every state offer information on starting a business, obtaining financing, and/or expanding an existing business. Its online library and classroom have many useful references. Especially useful to marketing your business is the Business Plan Tutorial which includes sections on gauging market for you product. 

• Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) 

Administered by the SBA, the SBDC program enhances economic development by providing management and technical assistance to current and prospective small business owners. It offers one-stop assistance by providing a wide variety of information and guidance. 
• Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) 

The SBA's Office of Technology administers this program where small businesses compete for awards by proposing innovative ideas based on specific R&D needs of participating federal agencies. The Small Business Technology Transfer Program (SBTT) requires each small firm competing for an R&D project to collaborate with a nonprofit research institution. 
• Procurement Marketing and Access Network (PRO-NET) 

This is an Internet database of more than 171,000 small businesses seeking to obtain contracts with federal, state, and private organizations. Registration is required for inputing/updating business information. Additional procurement information and business assistance may also be obtained from the following SBA Offices:
• Advocacy 
• Government Contracting 
• Minority Enterprise Development 
• Small Disadvantaged Business 
• Women's Business Ownership 
• Women's Online Business Center
The Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) is administered through the SBA's Office of Business Initiatives. SCORE is a nonprofit association dedicated to entrepreneur education and the formation, growth and success of small business nationwide. Working and retired business owners/executives donate their time and expertise as volunteer business counselors, by providing confidential counseling and mentoring free of charge.

U.S. Business Advisor is partially sponsored by the SBA. This site functions to provide businesses with one-stop access to federal government services, information, and transactions.

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