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Business & Finance
Links to Business & Finance On-Line

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Vermont Small Business Resources On-Line
These links are useful adjuncts if you're starting up a business and looking for some solid general resources of particular interest here in Vermont.   ...

  • Micro Business Development Program
    This site is the home of the Micro Business Development Program of the Vermont Community Action Agencies.  As they note on their home page, since 1989 they have "helped over 4000 people with their plans to start or expand a micro business."
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    The main sections here include info on Starting a Business and on Running a Business.  The Start-Up section is divided into three sub-sections -- Evaluation, Research, and Funding.  Among the topics covered:  Defining Your Business Idea, Setting Goals, Budgeting & Financial Planning,  Research Tools, Looking at the Industry & Looking at Your Market, Choosing a Legal Structure, Writing a Business Plan, Sources of Money, Loan Considerations, The Application Process, and Credit Repair.  The section on Running a Business is not as strong, with an FAQ that may nonetheless prove helpful to some.  But there's also a page devoted to related Resource Links that offers up a wealth of useful on-line info.
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    Vermont's Micro Business Development Program has been an invaluable resource for lots of folks looking to start up.  But even if you're already going, and going strong, the Resource Links page alone makes it worth a visit.
    Rating:  **** [4 stars]
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  • Vermonter's Guide to Doing Business
    The old Department of Community Affairs [DCA] has undergone a few facelifts over the past few years, and the results seem to be to the benefit of the business community.
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    This portion of the DCA website contains tons of invaluable info on a wide variety of topics, including:  Business Technical Assistance, International Trade And Export Assistance, Workforce Development And Training Programs, Business Financing Programs, Business Financing Incentives, Marketing Assistance, Business Licensing & Registration, State Business Permits & Regulations, Infrastructure Development, and, as if that weren't enough, Additional Resources.
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    The State isn't always ahead of the curve when it comes to on-line resources.  But when one of the departments does break away from the pack, it does so with impressive results.  This is one of those cases.  ...  Check it out.
    Rating:  ****1/2 [4-1/2 stars]
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  • Dobiz:  Doing Business in Vermont
    This is the Secretary of State's contribution to business info resources on-line.  It's relatively basic in layout and navigation, but it gets the job done.
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    What'll you find here?  ...  Among other things, the more useful include a comprehensive section on Choosing A Business Form, info on Partnerships, Limited Liability Partnerships, and Limited Liability Companies, Trademarks, and all you need to know if you're planning a 501(c)3/Title 11B V.S.A., non-profit corporation.  You can search databases of existing businesses and trade names.  And you can also check out the requirements for post-incorporation matters, like Annual Reports, Corrected Documents, Amendment of Articles of Incorporation, Restated Articles of Incorporation, Merger or Share Exchanges, and Articles of Dissolution.  Most of the necessary forms are also available on-line.

    The info here is critical, and available.  ...  What more do we need to say?
    Rating:  ***1/2 [3-1/2 stars]
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About Links to Business & Finance On-Line
The amount of info on the web is enormous, as anyone who's ever tried to run a search can attest to.  To put it all in context, best estimates say that only a fraction -- maybe 20 - 40 % of what's out there -- is actually making its way to the search engines. 

Well, here at DownStreet, we'd like to try to help.  So each issue, we post a few links in Business & Finance to sites that might interest you.  Sometimes the links will be related to one another  ...  sometimes we'll just offer up a somewhat random sampling.  Sometimes they're about Vermont sites, sometimes not. 

Of course, while we can't vouch for the fact that every link we provide will be of interest to everyone, we do our best to filter out the noise and the bustle and focus on quality sites.  ...  In that light, we hope you enjoy these sites as much as we have.

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    If you know of any links that you think are worthwhile, why not send them along to  ... 

             links@downstreetmagazine.com  ...

    If we agree, we'll be happy to include them in an upcoming issue to pass the word along.  ...
    Thanks.

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Lou Colasanti, Editor & Laura Wisniewski, Associate Editor
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