Internet Resources for California Businesses
A. Government Sites—Federal |
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Americans with Disabilities Act |
Information and technical assistance on the ADA by the U.S. Department of Justice. |
BusinessLaw.gov |
Home page, operated by the U.S. Small Business Administration, with links to legal and regulatory information, and plain English guides for starting a business, handling finances, managing employees, and other topics. |
CIA, The World Factbook |
https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html U.S. government profiles of countries and territories around the world. |
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) |
EEOC site with basic introduction to employers' rights and responsibilities under the federal equal employment opportunity laws. |
Federal agencies (through Library of Congress site) |
http://www.loc.gov/rr/news/fedgov.html A Library of Congress resource page with links to most federal agencies. |
Federal Citizen Information Center (FCIC) |
Part of the U.S. General Service Administration, the FCIC's Small Business Links offer information for persons planning or owning small businesses, including information on procurement, taxes, woman- and minority-owned businesses, human resources, and financial and legal issues. |
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) |
Home page with links to statistical data, pertinent regulations, and FAQs. |
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco |
Home page. The current FRBSF discount rate, used to determine the usury ceiling in California, is posted at http://www.frbsf.org/banking/data/discount/index.html. |
Federal Trade Commission |
http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/business.shtm Home page for businesses, with links to business publications, advertising guidance, fair packaging and labeling, antitrust law guide, and other topics. Information concerning the Hart-Scott-Rodino pre-merger notification requirements is at http://www.ftc.gov/bc/hsr/introguides/introguides.htm. |
FirstGov.gov |
http://www.firstgov.gov/Business/Business_Gateway.shtml The official web portal of the U.S. government, with links to information on contracting with the U.S. government, export licenses, business financial assistance, and many other topics. |
Internal Revenue Service |
Home page; access to downloadable IRS forms and publications. |
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) |
Home page. |
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) |
http://www.dol.gov/esa/ofccp/index.htm Home page with statutory, regulatory, and compliance information regarding nondiscrimination requirements for federal contractors. |
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) |
Home page with links to reports and other resources for banking industry professionals as well as public information about the national banking system. |
Office of the U.S. Trade Representative |
http://www.ustr.gov/index.html Home page. |
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) |
Home page with links to information for small businesses; online access to proposed and final rules, SEC releases, policy statements, and other commission notices and information; searchable database of all electronic company filings since 1994. |
SEC Edgar |
http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml SEC Edgar main page, with access to electronic filings and forms. |
Small Business Administration |
Home page with extensive links to federal and other resources for small businesses. |
Social Security Administration |
Home page. SSA forms are available online at http://www.ssa.gov/online/forms.html. |
THOMAS |
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas.html Website of the Library of Congress providing federal legislative information. |
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services |
Home page with links to immigration laws and forms. |
U.S. Copyright Office |
Home page with links to copyright registration and other information. |
U.S. Department of Commerce |
Home page. |
U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division |
http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/public/guidelines/guidelin.htm Link to Antitrust Division Guidelines and Policy Statements. |
U.S. Department of Labor |
Home page with links to statutory and regulatory information, labor statistics, small business regulatory compliance assistance, and other information. |
U.S. Department of Labor, Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) |
http://www.oalj.dol.gov/libdot.htm Dictionary of job titles and standardized job descriptions; useful for job placement, occupational research, career guidance, labor-market information, curriculum development, and long-range job planning. Last updated in 1991, the DOT has now been replaced by O*NET Online, http://online.onetcenter.org/. |
U.S. Department of State |
Home page with links to international commercial laws and guides. |
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
Home page. |
U.S. Government Printing Office |
Home page with links to products and services, including online searchable copies of the United States Code and the Code of Federal Regulations. |
U.S. International Trade Commission |
Home page with rules, regulations, reports, and other information, including an extensive list of links to international trade resources. |
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office |
Home page with downloadable forms and information on patent applications and trademark registrations. |
B. International Sites |
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Private International Law Database: Trade/Business Transactions Law, U.S. Department of State |
http://www.state.gov/www/global/legal_affairs/transaction_law.html Access to treaties in force for the United States, other international instruments, and information on current negotiations and projects concerning private international law. Updated through January 1, 2001. For treaty actions since President Bush took office, see http://www.state.gov/s/l/c3428.htm. |
Electronic Embassy Website |
Information on all foreign embassies in Washington, D.C. |
Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) |
http://hcch.e-vision.nl/index_en.php?act=text.display&tid=1 Home page. |
International Trademark Association (INTA) |
INTA is an international nonprofit membership association dedicated to the support and advancement of trademarks and related intellectual property. |
United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) |
Home page with links to UNICITRAL texts, including conventions, model laws, guides to enactment, legislative guides, legislative recommendations, and model contract rules. In particular, this website includes the text of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). |
CISG Database at Pace University School of Law, Pace Law Library, Institute of International Commercial Law |
Site dedicated to U.N. Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), with annotated text of CISG, CISG in different languages, cases organized by countries, and related CISG material. |
International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) |
http://www.unidroit.org/english/home.htm Home page. |
Canadian System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) |
Home page of the Canadian equivalent to the SEC's EDGAR. Provides access to corporate filings of Canadian companies with Canada's securities regulatory authorities. |
C. Government Sites—California |
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California Department of Corporations, Securities Regulation Division |
http://www.corp.ca.gov/srd/security.htm Access to forms, departmental publications, Commissioner's releases, opinions and notices, franchising information, and other topics. |
California Department of Fair Employment and Housing |
Home page. |
California Employment Development Department (EDD) |
Home page; information concerning job placement and referrals, unemployment insurance, disability insurance, employment and training, labor-market information, payroll taxes, and other topics. |
California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) |
Home page with links to downloadable state tax forms and publications. |
California Law Revision Commission |
Home page. |
Official California Legislative Information |
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/index.html Full text of bills, resolutions, and constitutional amendments, as well as their status, history, votes, analyses, and veto messages. |
California Legislative Resource |
http://calbar.ca.gov/state/calbar/calbar_generic.jsp?cid=10137&id=10452 Webpage maintained by the State Bar of California with many helpful links regarding California's legislative process, pending bills, legislative calendar, committees, and other topics. |
California Business Legislation Resource |
http://calbar.ca.gov/state/calbar/calbar_sections_generic.jsp?cid=10701&id=7041 Click on "Legislation" in left-hand menu. Provides links to recent business law legislative developments, from the State Bar of California, Business Law Section. |
California Business Permits and Licensing Information |
To locate appropriate permitting information for California businesses, the CalGOLD database provides links and contact information that direct users to agencies that administer and issue business permits, licenses, and registration requirements from all levels of government. |
California State Office of Privacy Protection |
State agency dedicated to promoting and protecting the privacy rights of consumers. |
California state agencies |
State of California site with links to California agencies, departments, and commissions. |
California State Association of Counties |
Home page with links to all California counties. |
California State Board of Equalization |
Home page with access to information about sales and use taxes, sellers' permits, forms, and publications. |
California Secretary of State: California Business Portal: |
http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/business.htm Home page. |
Forms: |
http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/bpd_forms.htm Directory of forms and samples for different business filings, including UCC forms; some in fill-in format. |
Business Filings: |
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Corporations |
http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/corp/corporate.htm Corporations main page with links to filing tips to meet statutory minimum requirements, name availability, FAQs, and more. |
Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) |
http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/llc/llc.htm LLC main page with links to forms and fees, name availability, FAQs, and more. |
Limited Partnerships |
http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/lp/lp.htm Limited partnerships main page with links to forms and fees, name availability, FAQs, and more. |
General Partnerships |
http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/gp/gp.htm General partnerships main page with links to forms and fees, name availability, FAQs, and more. |
Limited Liability Partnerships |
http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/llp/llp.htm Limited liability partnership main page with links to forms and fees, name availability, FAQs, and more. |
Trademarks and Service Marks |
http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/ts/ts.htm Trademarks and service marks main page with links to forms and fees, name availability, FAQs, private service companies, and more. |
Miscellaneous Filings |
http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/other/bp_other.htm Links to filing requirements for unincorporated common interest development associations, unincorporated associations, unincorporated nonprofit associations, foreign lending institutions, and foreign partnerships. |
California Business Search |
http://kepler.ss.ca.gov/list.html Fill-in boxes to check records online for corporations, limited partnerships, and limited liability companies. |
Starting a Business |
http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/resources.htm A step-by-step guide for starting a business in California; available in English or Spanish. |
e-file Statement of Information |
https://businessfilings.ss.ca.gov/ Fill-in boxes to file a Statement of Information for a corporation online. |
Notary Public |
http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/notary/notary.htm Notary public main page, with links to topics such as obtaining a notary public commission, handbook, authentications, apostille or certification, forms, and fees. |
Uniform Commercial Code |
http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/ucc/ucc.htm UCC main page with links to financing statement forms, amendment forms, requests for information, revised Article 9 (as of July 1, 2001), and FAQs. |
International Business Relations Program |
http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/ibrp/ibrp.htm Main page in English or Spanish with international resources and business tips; intended to assist foreign corporations with various filing procedures. |
Business Program Division, Legislation |
http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/bpd_newleg.htm Summaries and links to new state laws affecting businesses. |
D. Private Agency Sites |
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ABA Section of Business Law |
http://www.abanet.org/buslaw/home.html Home page with links to publications and other resources for business lawyers. |
Active Capital |
Site dedicated to helping individual accredited investors, SBICs, and institutional venture capitalists find small, growing companies through a secure Internet database, and providing ongoing training and research for entrepreneurs and small investors. |
AllBusiness |
Small business portal, with links to forms, directories, and resources on many topics. |
American Arbitration Association |
Home page with links to rules and procedures. |
Annual Reports.com |
Free service offering links to annual reports of public companies. |
BenefitsLink |
Compliance information and tools for employee benefit plan sponsors, service-providers, and participants. |
Better Business Bureau |
Home page. |
The Biz-Tech Network by Brint Institute, LLC |
Portal with a meta-index of business, management, and information technology topics; it also provides search capabilities and full text articles on related issues. |
Business.com |
Business search engine and directory intended to help users find companies, products, services, and other business-related information; some features are fee-based. |
Business Law Section of the State Bar of California |
Home page with links to standing committees, programs, and publications. |
Business Week Online |
Articles, links, and opportunity to subscribe to free newsletter. |
CNN Money |
General business news website offered by CNN and Fortune, Money and Business 2.0 magazines. |
Corporate Finance Sourcebook |
http://www.financesourcebook.com/ Link for ordering popular guidebook published by National Register Publishing. The guidebook features over 1500 top investment sources and 1700 service firms for business entrepreneurs. |
Corporate Information |
http://www.corporateinformation.com/ Subscription-based website offering research reports on public, private, domestic, and foreign corporations. |
Creative Commons |
A nonprofit organization founded by Prof. Lawrence Lessig of Stanford University that provides special copyright license forms and other free tools to enable authors, scientists, artists, and educators to share intellectual property. |
DeVry University Business Administration Portal |
http://www.academicinfo.net/busmeta.html Portal with annotated links to a variety of business-related topics. |
Dun & Bradstreet |
Home page of Dun & Bradstreet. Subscribers can request reports and run online queries in proprietary databases. |
Edgar Online, Inc. |
Edgar Online, Inc. is a private company, not affiliated with the SEC, specializing in the extraction, packaging, and distribution of public company information contained in SEC filings. |
Enterpreneur.com |
http://www.entrepreneur.com/mag Free access to Entrepreneur magazine articles back to 1997. |
Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) |
Access to FASB Statements of Financial Accounting Standards and other resources. |
Findlaw Business Center |
http://smallbusiness.findlaw.com/ Portal with links to articles and guides on starting a business, taxes and accounting, small business legal concerns, and more. Part of West Group. |
Garage Technology Ventures |
Venture capital fund for emerging technology companies. |
Google Small Business Directory |
http://directory.google.com/Top/Business/Small_Business/ A directory of small business resources. |
Hieros Gamos Small Business Center |
http://www.hg.org/sbcenter.html Portal with links to topics such as starting a business, choosing a legal structure, and financing. |
Hoover's Online |
Subscription-based site with industry snapshots, company profiles, earnings, and other information. |
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) |
Private agency responsible for global coordination of the Internet's system of unique identifiers, including domain names (such as .com, .org, and country codes such as .fr), as well as addresses used in a variety of Internet protocols. |
JAMS |
http://www.jamsadr.com/index.asp Home page with information about JAMS mediation and arbitration services and a search engine to assist in locating qualified mediators and arbitrators. The website also offers a downloadable guide to dispute resolution clauses in commercial contracts. |
MarketResearch.com |
http://www.marketresearch.com/ Free database of market research reports representing all market and industry sectors. |
MegaLaw.com Small Business Portal |
http://www.megalaw.com/top/smbusiness.php Portal with links to federal agencies and other websites related to small businesses. |
NASDAQ and American Stock Exchanges (mirrored site) |
and Comprehensive current information on market performance and investments. |
National Association of Attorneys General |
Association of the attorneys general of all 50 states, with contact information and links to enforcement initiatives. |
National Association of Secretaries of State, Business Registration and Filing Services |
Access to most state business and corporations divisions from a single webpage. |
National Association of Seed and Venture Funds |
Network of private, public, and nonprofit organizations investing and facilitating investment in entrepreneurs. |
National Business Association |
http://www.nationalbusiness.org/ Nonprofit association's site for the self-employed and small business community. |
National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) |
Home page with links to members and other resources. |
New York Stock Exchange |
Comprehensive, current information on market performance and investments. |
News Cuts |
http://www.newscuts.com/Small.Business.shtml Free and fee-based small business news service. |
Open Directory Project - Small Business |
http://www.dmoz.org/Business/Small_Business/ Free site with links to topics such as business plans, finance, home offices, and start-ups; edited by volunteers. |
Public Register's Annual Report Service |
http://www.annualreportservice.com/ Free access to annual reports of over 2200 companies. Site also has links to the SEC's Edgar database for filings. |
Reuters |
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsChannel.aspx?type=businessNews Database providing research reports on companies and industries. |
The Small Business Portal |
http://www.thesmallbusinessportal.com/ Links to topics such as starting a business, franchise advice, financing, and home-based businesses. |
Standard & Poor's |
http://www.standardandpoors.com/ Home page with search engine for public company credit ratings and other features. |
Tripod by Lycos |
http://www.tripod.lycos.com/smallbiz/index.html Portal with tips on starting an online business, yellow pages, and some free and some fee-based services. |
U.S. GAAP Website |
Comprehensive source of information on generally accepted accounting principles in the U.S. |
Wall Street Journal Online Edition |
General business and financial news. |
Washburn University School of Law Small Business Portal |
http://www.washlaw.edu/subject/small.business.html Portal with links to a forms library and business and economic data. |
Yahoo! Finance |
Free company profiles and stock charts for over 9000 public companies. |
Yahoo! Small Business |
http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/ Portal with links to topics such as creating a website, promoting a business, and selling online. |