The Small Business Web, a network of web-based software solution providers helping small businesses grow, announced that American Express OPEN, the financial service company’s small business unit, has become its first-ever sponsor.
OPEN is the official sponsor of The Small Business Web’s online directory, a free resource for businesses to easily find and research web-based software targeted to small businesses. It includes a wide range of small business-focused service providers in areas including customer relationship management, invoicing services, shopping carts, shipping fulfillment and email marketing.
“The caliber of The Small Business Web member companies and the depth of their respective integrations means small business owners can access the same tools and technologies as big companies,” said Michelle Riggen-Ransom, CCO of BatchBlue Software and co-founder of the Small Business Web. “American Express OPEN supporting us in our mission to bring the very best technologies to small businesses further demonstrates their commitment to helping small business owners grow.”
“We are delighted to sponsor The Small Business Web,” said Jay Lee, Vice President of Business Development at American Express OPEN. “One of OPEN’s main areas of focus is bringing small business owners’ leading edge, software-as-a-service, or SaaS, offerings through partnerships with innovative companies as a complement to our traditional payment products. Sponsoring the Small Business Web helps ensure that we remain on top of the latest innovations in this space.”
Last year, American Express OPEN launched Business Apps, a new line of products that help business owners harness the power of the “cloud” to help them run their firms. This includes AcceptPay, a web-based tool that allows small business owners to accept online payments and electronically invoice customers; InsuranceEdge, an online portal that offers small business owners real-time, competitive quotes from some of the nation’s leading insurance carriers and SearchManager, an online solution that allows business owners to easily manage paid search campaigns across all major search ad networks, through a centralized dashboard. A number of additional product launches are planned for 2011.
