I understand that U.S.SourceLink evolved from the successful KCSourceLink in the Kansas City metro region. What prompted the Kansas City organizers to start KCSourceLink?
Throughout the KC-region there were many resources for small businesses and entrepreneurs, but the people who needed them didn’t know about or couldn’t find them. Each of these organizations provided well-niched services. If entrepreneurs called a few and found out that those particular organizations couldn’t provide what they needed, they often gave up.

How did KCSourceLink get started?
We networked with the resource organizations and asked what they needed. We found that they needed to raise awareness but most of these groups have very limited marketing budgets. They also didn’t have good ways to track how they impact the community. Often they weren’t aware of what the other organizations provided, or where there were gaps or duplication of services throughout the region.

What was the answer?
We built a model that includes a Web site and The Resource Navigator. Together, they provide a systematic way of organizing the region’s business development resources, as well as their classes and events.

The Resource Navigator sorts all the resource organizations geographically and by services offered, allowing a visitor to do a customized search for resources online. The KCSourceLink Web site averages over 10,000 visits each month.

You encourage phone calls to your hotline. Why?
At the very beginning we put in a telephone hotline. It is answered by a real person who gathers information from the callers and recommends the best resource organizations to meet their needs. Many people get the information they need from the Web site, but we also want to offer a friendly voice. This works well, because on the phone we can probe their needs and provide more in-depth answers.

How do entrepreneurs find KCSourceLink?
From the beginning, grass-roots marketing has been a primary method. We write columns and speak at meetings of as many organizations as possible and exhibit at Chamber and other expos. We distribute our brochures and hotline business cards everywhere we can. We work to get the word out through various news media, including radio and TV interviews, but do very little paid advertising.

We develop referral sources, such as banks, Secretary of State offices and other governmental groups that can recommend us to their clients. The more than 140 organizations in our network spread the word and send referrals as well. The entire network comes together quarterly to build knowledge and collaborative opportunities.

What kind of staff is required to manage a SourceLink affiliate site?
Generally speaking, you need a program manager, a person to answer the hotline telephone and administrative support.

What kind of organization usually manages a SourceLink affiliate?
It varies, depending on the city, state or region. Our affiliates include everything from an entire state (Kansas) to cities, such as Milwaukee or Atlanta, to regional organizations like the Toledo (Ohio) Regional Chamber of Commerce and a 37-county area of western Alabama and eastern Mississippi.

The key is that for each affiliate site, the SourceLink model solves its problem of identifying the community’s business resources and making them visible and easy to find.