RI launches online tool to support small business owners

To coincide with National Small Business Week, Rhode Island launched an interactive online tool to support small business owners.According to Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea, the new RI Business Data Hub allows users to search information from the state's business registry, including business locations and business trends."Technology needs to make small businesses thrive, so what we’ve done here is to take what used to be basically a glorified phone book and turned it into a hub of information," Gorbea explained.For example, if you want to open a beauty salon in Newport, you could search for information on the site. You would discover you'd be in competition with 14 other incorporated beauty salons in the city. You'd also see the median household income in Newport is slightly above the state median at more than $65,000.