BusinessUSA Executive Committee Meeting

Yesterday I was proud to host the BusinessUSA Executive Committee Meeting in our Executive Conference room. I will start with a little background information, in 2011 the President issued a challenge to government agencies to think outside the box when coming to organizational boundaries and this is how BusinessUSA came to be.

It’s always great to hear about how successful the online platform business.usa.gov has become. The platform acts as a one-stop shop allowing the user to seek information with ease that is pertinent to their business. As an emerging entrepreneur, finding out the right information can be difficult and frustrating. BusinessUSA included a helpful portal in their site that allows for a more personal and customized experience with tools such as online training and chat forums.

 Listed from the left: Amin Mehr, Manager of Technology & Innovation, Michele Bartram, Manager of Partnerships & Customer Assurance, Efrain Gonzalez: Chief Financial Officer & Administrative Officer, Dennis Alvord, Executive Director, Holly Schick, Deputy Executive Director, Dexter Fredericks, Product Manager

An engaging topic that came up was the presentation on the Digital Strategies Playbook Audit of BusinessUSA. The White House launched the U.S. Digital Services Playbook on August 11, 2014. The playbook consists of 13 topics that were derived from successful best practices from the private sector and the government. Consumers spend money on digital channels to make lives easier. If every business starts to follow these 13 “plays” then digital channels will become more rounded and intuitive. BusinessUSA adapted this methodology to improve on specific areas such as making current progress to integrate automatic testing tools to improve their website and new mobile application.

For more information on this methodology please visit the site.