Corporations join forces on website for small businesses

Six companies have joined together to form a website that eases the application process for small businesses looking to become suppliers.

Difficult application processes often hurt small businesses which lack man power and human, financial and technical resources. And becoming suppliers to large corporations is important to many because it can boost sales and increase their number of employees.

The new website simplifies the application process by requiring small businesses to fill out one electronic form that is sent to all six companies.

“Having an easier way to get to these large clients saves me time, which gives me more time to get other business", Alison Bates Fisher, an event designer for a small business in Virginia, told Bloomberg News.

Companies involved in the new website include IBM, Citigroup, AT&T, Bank of America, Pfizer and UPS.

This is a big deal for small businesses, considering the six companies combined to hand out $150 billion in contracts each year, according to IBM. The computer company will run the website, set to go live in the first quarter of next year, thanks to a grant of more than $10 million from its foundation, according to Bloomberg.