In Celebration of National Small Business Week, U.S. Small Business Administration & Comcast Partner to Help Small and Medium Sized Businesses

LIVERMORE, Calif., May 20 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Small Business Administration http://www.sba.gov/ and Comcast's California Region http://comcastcalifornia.mediaroom.com today announced a new partnership that will provide local small and mid-sized businesses with tools, information, and resources via video segments from Comcast's video-on-demand platform.  Launching on May 23, 2010 as part of National Small Business Week (May 23 – 29) http://www.nationalsmallbusinessweek.com/, the partnership is entitled Comcast Connecting Businesses.  With difficult economic times facing local business owners, the two organizations partnered to connect entrepreneurs remotely to services and seminars necessary to establish, build and grow their businesses.  

Under the Comcast Connecting Businesses initiative, Comcast will film the workshops and seminars that the SBA conducts in its San Francisco district office.  These videos will incorporate interviews with the District Director, highlight forms required to start a business in the United States, and feature interviews with local business owners.  Seminar topics include: "How to Start a Business," "How to Obtain a Business License," "How to Become a Government Certified Business," "Basics of Marketing Your Business," and "Financing Your Business 101."  Comcast will add new video vignettes monthly, and Comcast Digital Cable customers in California will be able to view the video courses any time of the day or night at no additional cost.

Comcast viewers will also be able to see videos and sessions from the recent 2010 Governor's Conference on Small Business & Entrepreneurship which was held in Oakland, California.  Comcast partnered with the Governor's Office of Economic Development and California Small Business Centers to make segments available ON DEMAND for those unable to attend to attend the conference.

"We are excited to be partnering with Comcast to be able to bring the vast resources of the U.S. Small Business Administration directly to the home or offices of business owners," said Mark Quinn, District Director for the U.S. Small Business Administration.  "By offering this unique service with Comcast, we're able to utilize new technology so that entrepreneurs can watch these sessions at their convenience and spend the rest of their time developing their businesses."

Comcast's signature ON DEMAND service http://www.fancast.com/ondemand (which is free to Comcast digital customers) continues to be a one-stop destination for entertainment, providing programs anytime a customer wants to watch them -- with the ability to fast-forward, pause or rewind selections.  To view Comcast Connecting Businesses ON DEMAND, Comcast Digital Cable customers can tune to Channel 1 on their Digital Cable lineup or press the ON DEMAND button on their remote control, then click on the "Get Local" section, then scroll down and click on "Connecting Businesses."

"Putting Comcast Connecting Businesses ON DEMAND is another way Comcast is using technology to make a positive difference," said Mark O'Leary, Vice President of Business Services for Comcast California.  "Comcast is uniquely qualified to offer this type of local video on demand programming, and we are using our advanced fiber network to support businesses in our community, especially during these difficult economic times."

About U.S. Small Business Administration

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was created in 1953 as an independent agency of the federal government to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns, to preserve free competitive enterprise and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of our nation. We recognize that small business is critical to our economic recovery and strength, to building America's future, and to helping the United States compete in today's global marketplace. Although SBA has grown and evolved in the years since it was established in 1953, the bottom line mission remains the same. The SBA helps Americans start, build and grow businesses. Through an extensive network of field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations, SBA delivers its services to people throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U. S. Virgin Islands and Guam.

About Comcast

Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) (www.comcast.com) is one of the nation's leading providers of entertainment, information and communication products and services. With 23.5 million cable customers, 16.3 million high-speed Internet customers, and 7.9 million Comcast Digital Voice customers, Comcast is principally involved in the development, management and operation of cable systems and in the delivery of programming content.

Comcast's content networks and investments include E! Entertainment Television, Style Network, Golf Channel, VERSUS, G4, PBS KIDS Sprout, TV One, 11 regional sports networks operated by Comcast Sports Group and Comcast Interactive Media, which develops and operates Comcast's Internet businesses, including Comcast.net (www.comcast.net). Comcast also has a majority ownership in Comcast-Spectacor, which owns two professional sports teams, the Philadelphia 76ers NBA basketball team and the Philadelphia Flyers NHL hockey team, and a large, multipurpose arena in Philadelphia, the Wachovia Center, and manages other facilities for sporting events, concerts and other events.

Comcast's California Region, based in Livermore, California, serves more than 2.3 million customers in Northern and Central California.  Comcast employs more than 7,000 local residents across the region.

SOURCE Comcast