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James City County Enters Partnership to Provide E-Commerce Services for Small Business Owners
Date: May 11, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Steven Yavorsky, Assistant Director of Economic Development
Phone: 757-253-6607
Fax:
Email:
James City County’s Office of Economic Development (OED) is pleased to announce a partnership with the Virginia Electronic Commerce Technology Center (VECTEC) to provide e-commerce services for small business owners.
Under the new program, the County will help private businesses in the County grow revenues and jobs through e-commerce with the initial funding of an e-commerce grant program. VECTEC will manage applications and determine the readiness of interested businesses to undertake e-commerce projects. VECTEC will forward the information to the County, who will then award the grants, which must be matched by each applicant. Funds will be awarded on a per-case basis for completed projects and are subject to evaluation by the County’s e-commerce subcommittee and to availability of budgeted funds.
In addition to VECTEC, the grant applicant may select from qualified County-based web design vendors, provided the third party agreement does not interfere with the timeliness or cost-effectiveness of the project.
E-commerce grant services may include search engine optimization assessment, web site design and development, portable, scalable shopping systems with a client administrative interface and custom database development assistance with eVA (electronic Virginia) interface for businesses engaging in B2B and B2G selling online.
E-commerce grants are distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis to eligible businesses and must be used within one year. An eligible business must:
- be an operating business* with at least one place of business physically located in the County;
- be current in filing and payment of all taxes due to the County;
- be in compliance with all applicable laws, ordinances and regulations; and
- be a for-profit business.
For more information about the grant process, please contact VECTEC at (757) 594-7092 or jamescitycountygrants@vectec.org.
*Start-up businesses must accompany their application with a bona fide business plan that has been endorsed by either the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) or SCORE. A business with an existing web site is only eligible for the program if its proposal for VECTEC assistance involves upgrades to and/or addition of new elements to its web site. If you are a vendor and would like to be included on the list of pre-approved list of County-based web design businesses, please contact the James City County Office OED to submit a portfolio and a list of referrals. OED’s mission is to expand the business tax and job bases in the County.