NEW YORK, October 24, 2007 – At a time when entrepreneurship has become the driving force of the U.S. economy – with 97% of all new jobs coming from small business – Mansueto Digital, the online arm of Inc. and Fast Company magazines, today announced the formation of IncBizNet, www.IncBizNet.com, the first online business networking community and user-generated company database created exclusively for private companies.

IncBizNet.com will become an extensive directory of U.S.-based private companies, with data regularly provided and updated by the companies themselves. By offering businesses a wide array of free tools, from a press release newswire, to company blogging software, to local community groups for entrepreneurs, to a directory where private companies can market their products and services, IncBizNet will create powerful incentives for companies to use and update their profiles regularly.

The network is pre-populated with companies from this year’s Inc. 5,000, the list of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the U.S.. But all U.S.-based privately held companies are eligible and all senior managers from registered companies, from PR Directors to CMOs to CEOS, can participate on the network. The site has a target goal of one million participating private companies. More than a dozen people will work on company outreach for Mansueto Digital.

IncBizNet.com gives private companies the ability to create a detailed profile of their business, complete with marketing materials, press releases, blogs and videos, and show off their products and services in a multi-media directory. Entrepreneurs can maintain and expand professional networks by allowing them to connect with other privately owned businesses and build new business. The IncBizNet.com PR wire, which will allow member companies to distribute their press releases for free to local and national press including Fox business and AOL, and a ticker running across the homepage of Inc.com.

The site was developed with internal staff and leading social networking consultants, including Bond Arts & Sciences, Lullabot, Achieve Internet, Treehouse and the Revere Group. Open-source Drupal software, a leading edge community technology highly customized by Mansueto Digital, is at the core of the site.