Monday, March 23, 2009

Dave Kerpen Envisions "Green Pages" to Turn Around Queens Small Businesses


As a Queens small business owner, I'm particularly concerned about the future of our borough's small businesses. Too many of our favorite shops and restaurants are closing, and our government isn't doing enough to help.

That's why I'm fighting for small business. I've already promised the people of Queens that if I am elected Borough President, I'll do away with the Borough President's chauffers and car, and turn the money we save into grants and loans for small businesses throughout the borough.

Now, I'm pleased to unveil my plans to given our borough's small businesses the 21st Century tools they need to survive this current financial crisis and expand their businesses moving into the future. Please take a moment to read my idea for the first online "Green Pages":

Dave Kerpen Envisions “Green Pages” To Turn Around Queens Small Businesses

An Eco-Friendly Yellow Pages, Kerpen’s Proposal Will Bring Every Queens Small Business on to Web and into Global Marketplace


Dave Kerpen announced an innovative plan today to use the office of the Borough President to help small businesses in Queens survive the borough’s current economic crisis. Kerpen’s plan calls for the creation of an online “Green Pages” directory, an eco-friendly “Yellow Pages” dedicated to promoting the goods and services of Queens small businesses.

“With so many Queens residents struggling financially, our borough’s local businesses have to look beyond our borders for customers,” explained Kerpen, a small business owner and Internet-marketing expert whose company, theKbuzz, is based at Atlas Park in Ridgewood, Queens. “Our borough’s small businesses are already great. All we need now is a bigger playing field to compete in. The Green Pages would enable every small business in Queens to set up shop on the Web for free and start selling to customers not just across the United States, but across the world.”

The Green Pages will do more than promote local businesses with a borough-wide directory of existing web pages, it will also offer any small business in Queens currently without a web page to get one for free. Kerpen said the cost of bringing every business in Queens onto the Web was minimal, because technological developments in social media sites such as Facebook have made it fast, easy, and free to set up a basic web page to promote a company. As Borough President, Kerpen will organize free tutorials in every neighborhood in Queens to walk small business owners through the basic steps of getting their businesses online and using the Internet to expand their customer base. Kerpen cited mom and pop specialty stores as examples of small businesses that would particularly benefit from the Green Pages.

“It doesn’t matter if you’ve never used the Internet before, by the end of a single class, we’ll have your company up on the Web and ready for business,” said Kerpen.

To learn more about Borough President candidate Dave Kerpen’s fight to reform Queens government, join the conversation on his campaign’s official Facebook page: http://www.davekerpen.com/facebook

MAIN PHOTO: Dave Kerpen meets with Jake Gerson of The Fair, a home furnishings store in Glendale, Queens, established in 1938. INSERT: Dave and Joan Stack at her pet supply store Crazy for Animals also in Glendale.

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