NiMo launches online business community

CNY Business Journal (1996+), May 25, 2001 by Dickinson, Casey J

SYRACUSE - Despite a slowdown in many companies' e-commerce plans, Niagara Mohawk is launching its own online business exchange, BizBOOM.com. The site went live in late April, bringing an online marketplace to small-business customers across upstate New York.

BizBOOM offers a localized meeting place for small businesses along with tangible purchasing benefits, says Thomas Baron Jr., marketing-program coordinator for Niagara Mohawk.

BizBOOM features member Web sites, directories, online requests for product price quotes, and a number of other features such as expert advice. The site charges an annual membership fee for site hosting and using its online marketplace, but features such as the directory, advice, and success-story section are free. BizBOOM is designed as a place for small businesses to meet other companies in their own region rather than from across the world.

Niagara Mohawk created BizBOOM.com as an economic-development project, says Baron. Marilyn Higgins, Niagara Mohawk's executive director of economic development, suggested the BizBOOM concept in spring 2000 and put the company's Digital Marketing Manager Pamela Ingersoll to work developing the site.

While researching the online-marketplace concept, Niagara Mohawk staffers met with officials of Hometownpulse.com, a Rochester-based company with a Syracuse office pursuing a similar project. The two decided to combine the projects into what would become BizBOOM.com.

A great deal of market research went into the decision to move forward with BizBOOM.com, says Thomas Grooms, president of Proactive Interactive Marketing Products, Inc., the parent company of Hometownpulse.com.

Many small businesses still do not have their own Web sites, says Baron. Many more, he adds, have abandoned their online ventures because of a lack of activity on their Internet sites.

The partners used Syracuse-based Knowledge Systems & Research to help them gauge the market for BizBOOM. Their research, says Grooms, indicated that small businesses felt a need for the type of services on BizBOOM and were willing to pay a modest fee.

BizBOOM.com has two levels of membership. The "Business Builder" listing, costs $365 pet year and includes a Web site within BizBOOM and placement on the site's directories. The Business Builder level allows members to purchase using the site's buying features.

The "Total Access" membership runs $500 per year and allows members to sell as well as buy in the BizBOOM marketplace. The pricing is an important part of the business model, says Baron. The S365 price reflects a "dollar-a-day" marketing strategy, while the top level is within most companies' price range.

"We wanted to cap the membership at $500 to keep it affordable for small businesses," he adds.

Baron says that as an economic-development project, BizBOOM serves the Niagara Mohawk service footprint, which encompasses much of upstate New York. The utility serves a 24,000-square-mile territory stretching across 37 Upstate counties.

Businesses can sign up for BizBOOM online and immediately receive a user name and password. Using the site-building tools, the members can create their own business home page, says Grooms.

Niagara Mohawk plans to be an active participant in BizBOOM, says Baron. The utility will dispose of some of its surplus office equipment through the BizBOOM auction section, in addition to its regular sale channels. The company has a wide variety of surplus office items that could be of great use for small businesses, adds Baron.

Niagara Mohawk plans a summer media campaign to familiarize business customers with BizBOOM's features. The project's backers don't think it will meet the same fate as some other online marketplaces.

"This is a project that's going to be around for a long time," says Grooms.