Business, Finance & Nonprofits

Government Resources

Federal

Federal Business Opportunities

FedBizOpps.gov is the single government point-of-entry (GPE) for Federal government procurement opportunities over $25,000.

FedWorld Information Network

A complete site for searching, locating, ordering and acquiring government and business information. In addition to numerous specialized databases, the site also has the capability to search government reports, general information services, and job opportunities with the Federal government. From the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Business.gov

Helps small businesses understand their legal requirements and locate government services from federal, state and local agencies.

United States Economy at a Glance

From the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

U.S. Small Business Administration

Stop here for advice on finance and development, and helpful links for small businesses provided by the Federal government.

U. S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) EDGAR Database

A huge database of reports and filings made to the SEC by public companies as required by law. You can search by company name or symbol. Instructions on search strategies are provided. Information about the SEC, its history, and its rulings are also available.

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

The official website of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Turn here for patent and trademark searching, downloading forms and links to other related sites.

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State & Regional

Comm-PASS: Commonwealth Procurement Access & Solutions

One-stop shopping for doing business with the Massachusetts state government. This site includes a database of state contracts out for bid and information about applying for them. You can also register your business for its database. Now integrated into the Operational Services Division.

Massachusetts Corporations

The website for the Corporations Division of the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This site provides information on incorporating a business or organization as well as the forms necessary for each area.

Starting a Business in Massachusetts

Produced by the Massachusetts Office of Small Business Development, this site is primarily a tutorial on how to start a business in Massachusetts. It is divided into ten sections covering issues ranging from choosing a company name to obtaining financing. There are also links to other state and federal agencies which provide help and assistance.

Massachusetts Department of Business Development

Excellent range of information about starting a business in Massachusetts, the financing available, minority programs, and available resources.

Massachusetts Traffic Volume Counts Database

The Massachusetts Highway Department conducts an annual traffic data collection program. This data is available online by autoroute and city/town.

Pioneer Valley Planning Commission

Stop here for local information on the business economy, regional data, environmental and demographic data. Good place to find local and state links.

Online Magazines

These online magazines published by well-respected business companies are a good source for research and general information on individual companies, industries and specific business topics. Most are keyword searchable. Barron's Online
Entrepreneur Magazine
Forbes Fortune Online
Inc. Online
Kiplinger's Magazine
Smartmoney Interactive
Tech Investor News

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Personal Finance & Investing

Annual Reports.com

Free Service allows users to review an annual report in an easy and convenient manner. Includes reports from NYSE and NASDAQ companies.

BigCharts T

his site provides free online charts of investment information for stocks and bonds, as well as a Historical Quotes section which allows you to check for closing stock quotes back to 1985. Note: stocks that have ceased trading are not included.

Yahoo Finance

Stock and mutual fund quotes and statistics, including historical quotes. Some stock quotes go back as far as 1970.

Bloomberg Online

This commercial business site covers a lot of territory. To access its entire content it is necessary to subscribe to the Bloomberg Magazine. However, there is much here for free that is worth getting to know. The highlights include a 24 hour news center with a global focus. You may track up to ten stocks, use charts to see performance vs. the Dow or other indexes, or use one of the "tools" to calculate your mortgage rate, loan, bond yield, etc.

Dow Jones Averages

Premier source of data and information on the world's most-cited market indexes. Requires free registration for basic package.

Hoovers Online

Offers brief company descriptions of over 13,500 companies for free and 3,500 company profiles via online subscription. Profiles cover both U.S. and foreign public and private companies.

Investing Classroom from Morningstar

Stocks, funds, bonds, and portfolio curriculums. Requires free registration.

Investor Guide

A comprehensive site for managing investments and personal finance. Contains links to investing sites which are organized by topics and an "Answer Center" responding to a variety of investing questions. Its "Stock Research" area includes the home pages of companies along with recent news and activities of the companies. "Syn Search" allows searching a topic within the site or within selected formatted sites.

Investor Home

A site developed primarily to assist the investor. It includes links and background information for each step in the investment process and covers all the major asset groups including stocks, bonds, real estate, venture capital, as well as alternative and tangible investments.

Liber8

An economic information portal from the Federal Reserve Bank in St Louis.

The Motley Fool

Lively and visually entertaining, this site is geared for the beginning investor. Features include "Fools and their Money" which deals with personal finance (buying a home, credit card debt, tax planning) and "Fools School" which teaches investment basics (picking a broker, analyzing stocks, and the differences between stocks, mutual funds, and bonds). An excellent starting point for investment education.

National Information Center

Central repository of data about banks and other institutions for which the Federal Reserve has a supervisory, regulatory, or research interest, including both domestic and foreign banking organizations operating in the United States. This web site provides access to NIC data, allowing the public to search for detailed information about banking organizations.

Yahoo Annual Reports Service

The Annual Reports Service is a FREE Service provided by PrecisionIR for the readers of Yahoo! Finance.The service provides you with quick access to annual reports, quarterly earnings, and other information on select companies.

Zacks

Free registration includes stock quotes, a daily newsletter, and a free portfolio tracker. Additional fee-based services available.

Small Business

The Internet contains a wealth of information for the small business entrepreneur. This sampling of sites shows the type of information that is available, including business tools, guides to starting up and running a small business, shared experiences, and special situations.

Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield

Includes news, a calendar, information about membership and other resources for local businesses.

Basic Accounting and Bookkeeping Lessons

Teach and learn basic accounting principles, bookkeeping skills, and methods.

Business Plans and Profile Index

This index lists types of small businesses and a corresponding sample business plan, profile or book about the business with sources provided after each entry. From the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.

Business Plan Samples and Writing a Business Plan

From Entrepreneur.com.

How to Guides to Running Your Small Business

From Work.com. From start up to hiring, to managment, finance, government programs, and more.

Inventor's Handbook

This handbook was created by the Lemelson-MIT Program to address the independent inventor's and aspiring entrepreneur's most frequently asked questions regarding United States patents.

Massachusetts Latino Chamber of Commerce

Marketing advocacy within the Latino community.

CCH Business Owners Toolkit

A website geared specifically towards the small business owner. "Power Tools" is fee-based and enables you to gain access to credit reports, trademark searches and industry data. "Business Tools" provides model business plans, forms and other business documents that you can download. There is also free e-mail counseling and an "Ask Alice" advice column.

FindLaw Small Business Tool Kit

Includes a home office guidebook with thousands of pages on setting up your own small business, business tools including checklists, business plans, and other downloadable documents, links to other small business resources, as well as links to FindLaw's guides for consumers and legal resources.

Western Massachusetts Regional Small Business Development Center

The SBDC offers free counseling to prospective and existing small businesses in the areas of business plan development, preventure feasibility, financing, cash flow analysis, organizational issues and marketing. Training programs are offered for a nominal fee on a wide variety of management issues.

SCORE: Service Corps of Retired Executives

A wonderful site for the entrepreneur and small business owner. SCORE is a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to aiding the growth and development of small business. E-mail counseling, client success stories and online workshops are just a few of the amenities. The best feature is "Business Resources" which provides links to thousand of small business and government sites.

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Stock Exchanges/Bonds/Mutual Funds

AMEX: The American Stock Exchange
Bonds Online
Brill's Mutual Funds
Morningstar
New York Stock Exchange
The Nasdaq Stock Market
Yahoo Ticker Symbol Lookup
Yahoo: Mutual Funds Center

Nonprofit Organizations

Foundation Center

In addition to current news about philanthopy and grants, the site includes a library with training aids for grant seeking and proposal writing; information about and links to private, corporate and other grantmaking foundations, reports and analysis on current funding, and much more. The Springfield City Library is a Foundation Center Cooperating Collection and offers in-house access to the Foundation Directory Online (FDO) and Grants to Individuals Online (GTIO) databases as well as print resources. More information here.

GuideStar

A donor's guide to charities and nonprofit organizations. Includes a Charity Search, with information derived from IRS filings; a Resource Exchange, for potential volunteers; a news spotlight, and a learning center, including links to other web resources. Free registration required for access to 990s; additional services require paid subscription.

idealist.org

Idealist is a project of Action Without Borders, a nonprofit organization founded in 1995 with offices in the United States and Argentina. Idealist is an interactive site where people and organizations can exchange resources and ideas, locate opportunities and supporters, and take steps toward building a world where all people can lead free and dignified lives .

Volunteer Match

More than 66,000 organizations looking for your help. Enter your ZIP code, city or state and keywords describing the opportunity you're looking for. Or enter the skills you have (or would like to develop).

Serve.gov

Begin at this volunteer matching service and you will learn about the nationwide initiative, "United We Serve," designed "to help meet growing social needs resulting from the economic downturn." Search service powered by allforgood.org.

Volunteer.gov/gov

America's natural and cultural resources volunteer portal.