BIEN SEAGO Outreach

PresentersRandy Heiss

Executive DirectorSouthEastern Arizona Governments Organization

July 30, 2014

Business to Business network

• “Arizona-Mexico Small and Medium Sized Business Connections” -Thunderbird School findings

• Leverage technology to inform MAG business community

• Explore development of B2B digital platform

• Encourage companies to upload content

• Target: Small & Medium sized businesses• Largest sector in SEAGO Region• 99% employers

• Largest sector in Arizona• 98% employers

68%

26%

4% 2%

Arizona

5-19 20-99 100-249 250 +

SME’s with 5 Employees or More, Distribution (%) 2012

75%

22%

2%1%

SEAGO Region

Existing B2B platforms/sites:• Thomas Net

• Arizona Small Business Association

• www.azaerospace.com

• Alibaba.com & Tradekey.com

• Hecho en México B2B

• Based upon national datasets

• Specific to manufacturing and supply associations

• Trade/supplier print directories

• Targeted to specific business segment

• Usually membership fee based

Business to Business network

Digital Platform Design

• Self-reported database of businesses that operate in Arizona - Mexico -Canada

• Regional business databases used to generate participation - Annual update to information

• Information on: size, type of activity, scope of operations, contact

• Customized search – spatial or parametric

• Encourage development of direct connection

• Similarities to Made in NY Digital Map (mappedinNY.com)

Business to Business network

BIEN Partners

Home Page• Login : For registered users or setup profile• Search: Do not need login to search• News/Events• Links• About us• Contact

Login/Register – newly enhanced features• Registration needed to contact other companies

(Ability to search without profile)

• Companies with business locations in trade-region will be listed in the search results

Connect BIEN

Company Profile

• One user can have multiple businesses with multiple locations for each

• Address verified against Google geocoding service (international geocode and address complete)

• Detailed activity type for each location (up to 3 activities)

• 22 Main categories and 800 sub-categories - based on Thomson Reuters Business Classification

• 3 levels for activity selection

• Custom description of company activities may be added

• Profile required to be reviewed every year

Primary

C1 C2

L1 L2 L1

BA1

BA3

BA2

BA1

BA3

BA2

BA1

BA3

BA2

Connect BIEN

Search

• Location (spatial) or attribute search (name, business activity)

• Search results counted and displayed by activating category filters

• Built on Google maps

• Display each business location• Updates with zoom level • Icons based on primary

categorization

Connect BIEN

Next Steps

• Continue improvements based on feedback

• Engage Council of Governments/MPOs statewide in outreach

• Engage Chambers of Commerce, trade associations, others

• Expand communications and marketing strategy (Linked In, Twitter, print, B2B partnerships

• Develop comprehensive “Business Resource Map” in cooperation with other agencies

Connect BIEN

BIEN Professionals LinkedIn

Questions and Answers

Contact Information

Randy Heiss

Executive Director

SouthEastern Arizona Governments Organization