An intimate group of business professionals and small-business owners gathered in the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C., Thursday for the launch of the new program, which builds on the system introduced by IFC in 2002. The Toolkit is available to 22 emerging markets such as Belarus and India, and now will expand to women-owned businesses and businesses owned by people of color in the United States. Watch the video release.

The presentation was part of IBM's Forum on Global Leadership, which discusses how the U.S. can remain competitive in a globally integrated economy by leveraging technology for innovation. That's what the Toolkit is about.

"Small businesses are the growth engines of the world's economies; yet their success rate is not as good as it could be simply because of a lack of access to good business-management practices," IFC Executive Vice President and CEO Lars Thurnell said in a statement. "Giving small businesses the information and new collaborative technologies they need will help them grow and prosper."

Small businesses have created 60 percent to 80 percent of annual new jobs in the United States, but lack of access to information, resources and capital condemns nearly half of these ventures to bankruptcy within a year.

The Toolkit gives small-business owners free access to high-tech tools, services, best practices and business-management software previously reserved for Fortune 1000 companies. The site, which has been launched in 24 countries, is available in both English and Spanish and has been translated into more than 14 other languages, including Nepali, Vietnamese and Urdu, with Hindi and Arabic to be released this year.

The U.S. site will focus on businesses owned by women and people of color, which Census Bureau data indicates is growing at multiple times the national average.

All content is localized, and an open-source platform ensures easy customization, addressing themes such as accounting and finance, business planning, human resources, international business, operations and technology, and others. A U.S. Advisory Council formed of leading business people and small-business owners will review content on the U.S. site and identify new tools to assist black, Latino, Asian, Native American and women business owners in their endeavors.

The goal is to promote growth in underserved markets by leveraging technology and multi-sector collaboration to provide unparalleled access to information and opportunity.

The site relies heavily on Web 2.0 technology to engage users and offers a plethora of customized tools, including:

• Online calculators to help assess financial readiness
• Free web-site-building software
• Business forms used for employee-performance evaluations
• Information on local rules and regulations for small businesses
• Community tools such as online conferencing, blogs, group calendars and survey and quiz builders
• A multilingual business directory to help small businesses link locally, regionally and globally to expand their networks

In addition to these tools, small businesses can get business training delivered via classroom workshops and partnerships with local providers. Local partnerships in each of the countries hosting the site ensure small businesses are nurtured in a culturally competent manner to improve their chances of success.

Small businesses drive more than three quarters of growth in developing economies, according to the IFC. Like many companies, IBM has a vested interest in the ability of small businesses to boost the infrastructure of emerging markets, and its global footprint endows it with the cultural expertise to design the site most effectively. IBM has given more than $1.6 million to update the Toolkit.

"This truly is one-stop shopping for small businesses, and it levels the playing field. We know the tools that large businesses use and we know the role technology can play in leading to growth. Now, every business can have the same chance to succeed," said IBM Vice President of Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs Stanley Litow. "It's vitally important that we help small businesses who are the major employers and growth engines in developing markets. These are just the kind of tools that can help underserved markets be successful."

The next phase of development will be to add new partners, markets and languages and to enable users to conduct business using mobile devices such as cell phones, which are primary means of web connectivity for users in emerging markets. The Toolkit is also expanding to reach the small-business population in India, South Africa and Brazil.

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