Ed Morrison · BFD Learning Moment: MOSourceLink

September 15th, 2008

Missouri Source Link

An idea for JumpStart, Nortech, Fund for the Future, Advance NEO?

Last week, Missouri launched MoSourceLink, a new web-based resource to connect businesses in that state with the resources they need. Based on a similar platform created for Kansas City, called KC Source Link, the statewide platform delivers a customized report in a variety of different formats to the user.

The success of the strategy comes in the detailed front end questions that the platform uses to narrow down its search. The sophisticated front end ensures that the user gets connected to the right resources.

An example: Finding training help in St. Joe

So, for example, the questions first ask for your ZIP code. Next, you answer several questions about the nature of your business or your plan to go into business. Next, you’re asked to define more precisely the nature of the resources you are trying to find.

Following this approach, I was able to locate human resource training professionals that can help a start up business in St. Joseph, Missouri in less than five minutes.

The program then delivered the report to my desktop in a PDF file. (I could have asked for different formats including a spreadsheet.)

A model to follow

Clearly the complexity of business assistance demands more sophisticated, flexible and adaptive Internet tools to deliver resources to doorstep of businesses. MoSourceLink provides a helpful model to follow.

Category: BFD

2 Responses to “BFD Learning Moment: MOSourceLink”

  1. Steve Millard Says:
    September 24th, 2008 at 4:10 am

    Ed — a few years ago COSE worked with a variety of resource providers in NEO to try to develop a similar clearinghouse for information. The goal was similar to what MOSourceLink seems to be doing — try to help small businesses get access to and find out about the resources that exist and are available to them.

    The site is still up, though not up to date currently. COSE invested a lot of money in trying to get a variety of intermediaries to use the tool and promote it. We also funded a couple of folks to serve as “brokers” and counselors to the small business people that accessed it. Ultimately, we were unable to maintain the interest from the other providers to keep the tool and service team live and up to date.

    It’s a tool I think we do need as a way of helping people connect with resources that can help them.

    I’d be interested in your thoughts — and, again, know that its not been kept up recently, so it will have some broken links…but thought you might be interested in it as an example of a similar effort.

    The link is at http://www.neo411.biz and the “resource guide” is the area of the site that helps navigate to resources.

    Steve Millard
    smillard@cose.org

  2. Ed Morrison Says:
    September 24th, 2008 at 11:56 pm

    Steve:

    There is no question that building an interactive tool makes a lot of sense. It’s also no surprise that keeping the information updated is tricky.

    Providers have incentives to update only if they see traffic. Traffic is dependent on promotion and users, of course.

    I like the Missouri site for the sophistication of its front end. That is one of the major differences between the Missouri effort the 411 site. It seems to me that the Missouri site has a stronger user experience.

    I think I’ve met the woman in Missouri who is behind and both the site at the state level and the site in Kansas City. If you would like, I’ll try to dig out her contact info and make an e-mail introduction.

    I think the next generation of these types of tools will include a social network tools, such as blogs, forums and wikis.

    If you are not maintaining the 411 site, it probably makes sense to take it down and relaunch it at another time. Users who come across an outdated site will go away with a negative impression.