Haley, Commerce Officials Announce New Biz Tool

The state launched a new website Wednesday that officials believe will help the state's small businesses and entrepreneurs boost their bottom lines and grow their businesses.

Gov. Nikki Haley, joined by Deputy Secretary of Commerce George Patrick and a coterie of business leaders, unveiled a new service called South Carolina Business Network at SCBizNetwork.com.

The site will serve as a one-stop hub of information and resources, such as financing, regulations, contracts, market data, and a slew of other tools.

Haley said that when she took office she tasked Commerce Secretary Bobby Hitt with devising ways to better serve small businesses, which make up 95 percent of all private employers in the state. This website is one product of that mandate, Haley said.

"At the end of the day, if you take care of your small businesses you take care of your state," Haley said at a press conference held at Columbia Tool and Die in West Columbia.

"I'm always out gathering as much information as I can to help Columbia Tool and Die succeed. In the past, that has been pretty time-consuming. I'm looking forward to using this new program, " said company manager Jake Brackett, who noted that another Commerce Department program — BuySC — was vital in his company becoming a supplier to Boeing's new Charleston aircraft assembly plant.