Apr

2

The SBA wants your ideas on a new web portal

April 2, 2008 |

I don’t usually do this but, for today, I’m going to let the SBA speak for themselves.

SBA Looking for Innovative Ideas for Development Of a Lending Portal

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Small Business Administration is looking for innovative ideas from the lending and business communities on ways to leverage its Web presence to establish a new e-commerce portal to help expand credit availability for businesses and give lenders increased access to new potential small business customers. SBA’s site logs approximately 1.9 million visitors per month.

With that goal in mind, the SBA has issued a Request for Information, RFI, from potential vendors on setting up a sustainable online lending portal that would connect small business loan applicants with commercial lenders.

The portal would allow business users to enter relevant information regarding their financing needs and key financial and performance information critical to an underwriter’s decision. The portal would then facilitate matching interested lenders with prospective borrowers.

The planned portal is yet another step by the SBA to encourage and facilitate increased financing opportunities for small businesses. The focus of this portal will be to link prospective small business borrowers to all lending products that would meet their needs.

“SBA’s mission is to support the nation’s economy by helping small businesses start, grow and expand, and a substantial part of that mission is met by our providing financial assistance,” said SBA Administrator Steve Preston. “This portal will expand the ability of small businesses to access credit programs and of lenders to access a broader range of potential lenders.”

While the RFI is not an official solicitation and no contract will be awarded on the basis of this information, the SBA has provided instructions that describe a wide array of topics under three categories: Specifications, Pricing Strategy, and Project Management. Some of the topics that need to be addressed are: User Friendliness and Transparency, Market Coverage, Privacy Policy, Pricing Structure, Revenue Sharing, Timeline, and Risks.

In addition to meeting the requirements outlined above, responses must provide general information about experience in providing services similar to those requested. All responses to the RFI are to be submitted via email to Joanie.Newhart@sba.gov, and received no later than April 28, 2008.

For additional information, visit http://www.fedbizopps.gov/.

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Comments

2 Comments so far

  1. Robert on April 2, 2008 8:40 pm

    As someone who works with many small business owners, I think this is a great idea. I just hope they follow thru with things. The small business owner is the back bone of this economy. Best of luck

  2. Mary Schmidt on April 3, 2008 10:47 am

    A very basic recommendation: Design it from a business results perspective - not a “gee whiz! look what we can do!” web designer creative perspective. How will people be coming to the portal? What will they be looking for? How can it be made as easy as possible for vistiors to as quickly as possible find what they need?

    (I’m a bit of a cynic since there are already about a bazillion sites, portals and such that are designed to “help” people - and most of them are badly designed and add to the confusion.)

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