Explore local, discover Austin at www.explorelocalaustin.org

Austin residents and visitors looking for small, locally owned businesses and services have a new resource on the Web to find these unique enterprises – www.explorelocalaustin.org.

The City of Austin’s Small Business Development Program, a division of the Economic Growth and Redevelopment Services Office, this week launched the new Web resource that highlights small, locally-owned Austin businesses using an online interactive map.

Austin City Council Member Sheryl Cole, an adamant proponent of the project, has said the City of Austin realizes the importance of highlighting our small businesses that make our local economy one of the best in the nation, especially as our national economy continues to fluctuate.

In its initial phase the project includes more than 275 small, Austin-owned businesses across five areas of Austin chosen based on criteria including amount of traffic and business density. One of the chief benefits of the new Web site is offering a Web presence to businesses that currently do not have their own site. It will also include videos for each area, highlighting businesses and the services and products provided to the public.