The program calls on the nation’s corporate community to lend experience and resources to startups and small companies.
New York Stock Exchange
(NYSE) Euronext, an operator of financial markets and provider of trading
technologies, announced the launch of NYSE Big StartUp, a nationwide jobs-growth
initiative to connect young companies and entrepreneurs with corporate America,
in collaboration with small business financing company Accion, the Entrepreneurs
Organization and The Startup America Partnership.
Online local search company
Yelp, social networking site LinkedIn and tech giant Microsoft are among the
first corporations to participate in the endeavor.
The program calls on the
nations corporate community to lend support, experience and resources to
startups and small companies to improve procurement, networking, business
development, training, marketing and information sharing. In addition to
information and events to be provided as part of the initiative, a microfinance
program called the Accion NYSE Job Growth Fund, started with a $1.5 million commitment
by NYSE Euronext, will provide small businesses and startups with the capital
and support needed to expand their companies. The program helps promote the
increased demand for goods and services that these growing companies need,
while also mobilizing the corporate sector to contribute knowledge, expertise
and funding where it can be critical to job creation.
America is looking for ways
to create jobs, and we believe part of the answer lies in nurturing the small
business community, said Duncan Niederauer, CEO of NYSE Euronext. We are
calling on established companies to direct their purchasing power to small
companies. In addition, we are launching new training, mentoring and education
programs for entrepreneurs, as well as the Accion NYSE Job Growth Fund to help
ensure that capital is available to those least able to access it from
traditional sources.
Yelp said it would leverage
platform insights and marketing best practices to develop programs that help
local businesses engage in an online dialog with their consumers, and provide
companies with practical mentoring and networking opportunities. "Helping
businesses understand and take advantage of these opportunities to interact
with existing and potential customers is an important part of our business
education programs, said Jeremy Stoppelman, co-founder and CEO of Yelp.
LinkedIn intends to create a
group for Big StartUp that will enable participants to connect with one
another, engage in online conversations, encourage companies to form their own
groups to connect with startups and entrepreneurs, and share insights and
advice throughout the LinkedIn community. Microsofts BizSpark program helps
software startups succeed, and boasts more than 45,000 startups from 100
countries in the program, plus a global network of 2,300 BizSpark partners. At
no cost, the program provides a wide range of Microsoft technology, technical
and business expertise, and enhanced market visibility.
Startups are incredibly
vital to a vibrant economy and very fragile. Through the Microsoft BizSpark
program, we work with thousands of startups to help them grow their businesses
by providing access to technology, market visibility, mentoring and inclusion
in the growing BizSpark entrepreneurial community, said Danl Lewin, corporate
vice president of strategic and emerging business development at Microsoft.
Nathan Eddy is Associate Editor, Midmarket, at eWEEK.com. Before joining eWEEK.com, Nate was a writer with ChannelWeb and he served as an editor at FierceMarkets. He is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
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