Business Resources	Links to local business counseling services, planning links, finance, insurance, legal, employee retirement plans, and general business information resources.
Federal Links	Links to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS), Employer Identification Number (EIN) application, and the Social Security Administration.
Washington State	Starting a business in Washington State, corporations, licensing and payroll taxes.
Oregon State	Oregon State corporations, licensing, income and payroll taxes.
City of Vancouver	City of Vancouver business licensing, the Vancouver Business Journal and The Columbian.
Local Business Associations	Links to various state and local chambers of commerce, as well as other local business organizations.
Accounting & Tax	Links to national and state professional accounting associations and regulatory bodies, as well as various resources of interest to accounting and tax professionals.

Business Resources

Counseling / Planning

SCORE, Ft. Vancouver Chapter SCORE, Portland Chapter SCORE, "Counselors to America's Small Business," is a nonprofit association dedicated to educating entrepreneurs and the formation, growth and success of small business nationwide. SCORE is a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). The local Vancouver and Portland chapters offer informational resources and personal counseling appointments.
SCORE's National Website SCORE's national website offers a wealth of business planning resources, including sample business plan templates.
Washington Small Business Development Center Oregon Small Business Development Center The SBDC offers counseling, training and other local resources for small businesses.

Finance

Small Business Administration The Small Business Administration (SBA) is the nation's largest financial backer of small businesses.
Accion USA Accion USA is a private non-profit organization that offers small business loans of up to $25,000 and financial literacy education to small business owners in the United States.
Mercy Corps Northwest Promotes economic self-sufficiency through microenterprise development and self-employment in the greater Portland, OR, and Vancouver, WA, region.
Evergreen Community Development Association As the #1 U.S. Small Business Administration 504 Loan Program Certified Development Company in the region, Evergreen CDA has been involved in more than 1,200 projects totaling more than $740 million and assisted in the creation of more than 22,000 jobs throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Northwest Business Development Association Helps small to medium-sized businesses grow and prosper by providing fixed asset financing at reasonable rates and terms that would otherwise not be available.
Craft3 Craft3 is a certified non-profit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) serving urban and rural communities of the Pacific Northwest. We are proud to be an affiliate of ShoreBank Corporation, the nation’s oldest CDFI.
Get a D-U-N-S Number Dun & Bradstreet maintains the world's largest business database containing information about more than 64 million businesses worldwide including 13 million in the United States. In today's economy, the Dun & Bradstreet D-U-N-S Number has become the standard for keeping track of the world's businesses.

Insurance

A.M. Best See how financially sound your insurance company is with the largest and longest-established organization devoted to issuing in-depth reports and financial-strength ratings about insurance companies.
Kramer Insurance Group Katie Kramer, an independent insurance agent local to Vancouver/Portland, helps Oregon and Washington small businesses define insurance needs and how best to meet them.
Floyd Watkins & Associates Insurance Sil Arata, of Floyd Watkins & Associates, helps Oregon and Washington small businesses and individuals define insurance needs and how best to meet them.
Lifewise of Oregon Lifewise of Washington Lifewise, a subsidiary of Premera Blue Cross, offers individual and family health insurance plans through a preferred provider organization.
Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente is a health maintenance organization with clinics and hospitals in Washington and Oregon.
Regence Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Oregon Regence Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Oregon offers individual and family health insurance plans for residents of both Oregon and Southwest Washington.

Legal

FindLaw For Small Business This site is is here to help you find solutions to your legal issues by providing you with easy and comprehensive access to small business lawyers and legal information.
Todd Cleek Todd Cleek, an independent lawyer local to Vancouver/Portland, helps Oregon and Washington small businesses with legal issues unique to small businesses.

Guides / Information Resources

Ft. Vancouver Regional Library Includes a wealth of online and book resources for demographic research, start-ups, marketing, financing, planning, etc. Choose the "Research Database" button to access the various business databases.
Patent Analytics and Searching The FreePatentsOnline search engine is one of the most powerful, fastest and easiest patent search engines on the web.
FranNet Franchise Consultants FranNet Franchise Consultants offers free advisory services for those researching franchise business opportunities.
Business Proposal Writing and Development Resources Discover how to find business opportunities, improve your business proposal writing, and win more contracts. Find out how to improve your market research, competitive intelligence gathering, and capture planning in order to win more business.
Estate Planning Links For consumers and estate planning professionals, this site contains hundreds of well-organized, time saving links to estate planning, elder Law, tax and related websites.
Business Valuation Resources Comprehensive source of information concerning business valuations.
AnnualCreditReport.com Consumers are entitled to receive one free credit file disclosure every 12 months from each of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. To reach the website, you'll need to manually type in the above address in your web browser.

Employee Retirement Plans

Tax Information for Retirement Plans Community Comprehensive information resources from the IRS about employee retirement planning.

Return to Top

Federal Links

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) homepage.
IRS Refund Status Expecting a federal tax refund? Check its status at this webpage.
EFTPS The Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) from the IRS enables you to pay federal payroll taxes online.
Federal Tax Transcripts How to obtain federal tax transcripts from the IRS.
EIN Online Application How to apply for your Employer Identification Number (EIN) with this online Form SS-4.
SSA Business Services Online SSA Business Services Online Tutorial The Social Security Administration's Business Services Online login and registration page, how to submit W-2s online, an online tutorial, etc.

Return to Top

Washington State Links

Starting a Business in Washington Frequently asked questions, links to major state departments, business resources, guides, etc.
Corporations Homepage Annual Report Online Filing Washington Secretary of State corporations homepage, online corporations name search, annual report filing, etc.
Washington Business License Online Application Washington State Department of Revenue business licensing application.
Department of Revenue Homepage Online Combined Excise Tax Return Logon Tax Rate Lookup Tool Tax Rate Phone App Washington State Department of Revenue homepage, combined excise tax filing, tax rate lookup tool, tax rate phone app, property taxes, etc.
Employment Security Department Homepage Washington State Employment Security Department homepage, unemployment insurance, etc.
Department of Labor and Industries Homepage Online Employer Quarterly Report Filing L & I Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business Washington State Department of Labor and Industries homepage, workmen's compensation, quarterly report filing, business lookup/verify tool, workplace posters, etc.
Online New Hire Reporting Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, reporting new employees, paying child support, etc.

Washington Unclaimed Property
Search for unclaimed monetary and other property reported by banks and governmental agencies that may belong to you or someone you know.

Return to Top

Oregon State Links

Oregon Secretary of State, Corp Division
Business Registry Forms
Central Business Registry Forming a business in Oregon, annual reports, registration renewals, and forms for registering / forming your business entity.
Business Name Search Search the business registry database to see if your business' name is available.
Oregon Department of Revenue Corporate and personal state income tax, business taxes and payroll withholdings.
Combined Employer's Registration Form Use this form to register your business as an employer with the Department of Revenue. The DOR will issue you a business identification number (BIN), and you can then file your Oregon Quarterly payroll tax reports.
Oregon Revenue Online The Oregon Revenue Online is used for online combined payroll taxes or estimated corporation excise and income taxes.
Oregon Unemployment Rate Lookup Not sure what your state unemployment tax rate is? Look it up here.
Oregon New Hire Reporting Oregon Online Child Support Payments Oregon new hire reporting and online child support payments.

Oregon Unclaimed Property
Search for unclaimed monetary and other property reported by banks and governmental agencies that may belong to you or someone you know.

Return to Top

City of Vancouver Links

Doing Business in Vancouver Information about business licensing in the City of Vancouver.
Vancouver Business Journal Greater Vancouver's only business only newspaper.
The Columbian Vancouver's local general news newspaper.

Return to Top

Local Business Associations

Association of Washington Business Washington State's oldest business organization, it is considered the state's "chamber of commerce."
Portland Business Alliance The Portland Business Alliance is Greater Portland’s Chamber of Commerce.
Vancouver Chamber of Commerce City of Vancouver's chamber of commerce homepage.
Battle Ground Chamber of Commerce City of Battle Ground's chamber of commerce homepage.
Camas - Washougal Chamber of Commerce Cities of Camas and Washougal's chamber of commerce homepage.
Rotary District 5100 The home Rotary district for Southwest Washington and much of Oregon.
Vancouver Rotary Club The largest Rotary club in Vancouver.

Return to Top

Accounting & Tax Links

American Institute of CPAs The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants is the national association for American CPAs.
Washington Society of CPAs The Washington Society of Certified Public Accountants is the state association for Washington CPAs.
Oregon Society of CPAs The Oregon Society of Certified Public Accountants is the state association for Oregon CPAs.
Washington State Board of Accountancy The Washington State Board of Accountancy licenses and regulates Washington CPAs.
Oregon State Board of Accountancy The Oregon State Board of Accountancy licenses and regulates Oregon CPAs.

Return to Top

[ Home ] [ Services ] [ About ] [ Contact Info ] [ Useful Links ]