New business networking site promotes global trade
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- January
- 16
Westchester County has started a new Web site that’s like a MySpace for local businesses wanting to show their stuff to potential overseas trade partners.
“It’s a social networking site like teens have used effectively, but for business purposes,� said Norm Jacknis, chief information officer for the county.
The new site, www.US-Channels.net, promotes trade by allowing businesses to input information on their companies and their trade interests.
Regional economic development groups and business associations will also be able to use the site.
“It’s really another step for us to give Westchester companies, particularly small and mid-size ones, a way to find global trade partners,� Jacknis said.
Westchester County’s Office for Economic Development and Department of Information Technology are sponsoring the site, which will be offered at no cost for the first year.
“We’re the government. We can’t make sales and we’re not sales agents, but we’re doing a lot of things to make it cheaper and easier for businesses to find each other,� Jacknis said.
The site was developed by Group Intelligence, a company that operates online communities.
Visitors to the site will see a map of the world with links to information about Westchester, Ireland, Italy and China.The Westchester link boasts about the county’s work force of 458,000 “highly skilled managerial, professional and technical workers� who generate 10 percent of all U.S. patents.
Firms interested in learning more about the U.S. Channels community can contact Scott Fernqvist, special assistant to the CIO, at sef1@westchestergov.com or (914) 995-3078.









