Online Resources 
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Please check out these web sites for more information on starting or expanding your business. There's a wealth of information out there!Local Online ResourcesThe SCC acts as one of Virginia's primary regulatory agencies, with oversight of varied business and economic interests throughout the Commonwealth. The SCC's authority encompasses utilities, insurance, state-chartered financial institutions, securities, retail franchising, and railroads. The Commission also serves as the Commonwealth's central filing office for corporations, limited partnerships, limited liability companies, and Uniform Commercial Code filings. http://www.scc.virginia.gov Fairfax County Economic Development Authority The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) promotes Fairfax County, Virginia, as a world-class center of commerce and trade and the technology hub of the east coast. The FCEDA provides a wide array of information and free services designed to help American and international businesses locate or expand commercial operations in Fairfax County. http://www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org Fairfax County Library The Libraries mission is to provide and to encourage the use of library resources and services where the Fairfax County Public Library can best meet the evolving educational, recreational, and informational needs of all the residents of Fairfax County and Fairfax City, thus enhancing individual and community life. http://www.co.fairfax.va.us/library Virginia Department of Taxation http://www.tax.virginia.gov Fairfax County Department of Taxation http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dta Virginia’s Business Portal: Featuring Live Chat assistance, this site has business information and resources for starting and running a business, operating an out-of-state business in Virginia, and many other resources for small businesses. http://www.business.virginia.gov Virginia's Department of Minority Business Enterprise This department has the unique responsibility to assure that minority, the disadvantaged and women owned businesses are an integral part of Virginia's outstanding economical growth and have access to capital, receive small business assistance, and provide minority certification procurement opportunities. http://www.dmbe.state.va.us/ Small Business Administration (SBA) The U.S. Small Business Administration, established in 1953, provides financial, technical and management assistance to help Americans start, run, and grow their businesses. With a portfolio of business loans, loan guarantees and disaster loans worth more than $45 billion, in addition to a venture capital portfolio of $13 billion, SBA is the nation's largest single financial backer of small businesses. Last year, the SBA offered management and technical assistance to more than one million small business owners. The SBA also plays a major role in the government's disaster relief efforts by making low-interest recovery loans to both homeowners and businesses. America's 25 million small businesses employ more than 50 percent of the private work force, generate more than half of the nation's gross domestic product, and are the principal source of new jobs in the U.S. economy. http://www.sba.gov US Patent and Trademark Office For over 200 years, the basic role of the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has remained the same: to promote the progress of science and the useful arts by securing for limited times to inventors the exclusive right to their respective discoveries (Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution). Under this system of protection, American industry has flourished. New products have been invented, new uses for old ones discovered, and employment opportunities created for millions of Americans. Through the issuance of patents, we encourage technological advancement by providing incentives to invent, invest in, and disclose new technology worldwide. Through the registration of trademarks, we assist businesses in protecting their investments, promoting goods and services, and safeguarding consumers against confusion and deception in the marketplace. By disseminating both patent and trademark information, we promote an understanding of intellectual property protection and facilitate the developments and sharing of new technologies world wide. http://www.uspto.gov Virginia Small Business Financing Authority The Virginia Small Business Financing Authority, staffed by the Financial Services division of the Virginia Department of Business Assistance, was created in 1984 with passage of the Virginia Small Business Financing Act. In addition to being a statewide issuer of industrial development bonds, VSBFA is the conduit through which the Department of Business Assistance provides financial assistance to Virginia's businesses. http://www.dba.state.va.us/financing Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service is the nation's tax collection agency and administers the Internal Revenue Code enacted by Congress. Its mission: to provide America's taxpayers with top quality service by helping them understand and meet their tax responsibilities and by applying the tax law with integrity and fairness to all. http://www.irs.gov Virginia's Women's Business Enterprise Program (WBE) Frequently, government organizations and private corporations set goals for doing business with women-owned companies by establishing supplier diversity programs or "set asides". The Virginia Women's Business Enterprise (WBE) program helps Virginia's women-owned and operated companies certify themselves as WBEs to better compete in government and corporate procurement markets. The program also markets certified women-owned Virginia firms to buyers via an online database and year-round marketing campaign. There is an application form and fee of $75 for a two year registration. http://www.dba.state.va.us/mwbusinesses/wob.asp |
