The NYSE Big StartUpSM Launches Small Business Connections: Marketing Meets Microfinancing

NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) today announced, in partnership with national microlender Accion and online review site Yelp (NYSE: YELP), Small Business Connections: Marketing Meets Microfinancing, a nationwide small business marketing and financing workshop series in conjunction with The NYSE Big StartUpSM. The tour, which debuts in Tucson, AZ, on June 12, 2012, will provide small business owners across the U.S. with access to local resources to help finance their entrepreneurial dreams and increase their online marketing power by learning best practices for engaging with online review sites.

This is the first small business events component of the NYSE Big StartUp, a nationwide job creation and business growth initiative that connects small businesses with established corporations, such as Yelp. The initiative also includes the Accion-NYSE Job Growth Fund started with a $1.5 million commitment by NYSE Euronext, which will provide small businesses and startups with the capital and support they need to grow. Following Tucson, the tour will make stops in Houston, Austin, New York, Boston and Chicago, with additional cities added throughout 2012. The current schedule can be viewed here.

“The NYSE Big StartUp is a nationwide jobs-growth initiative that connects young companies and entrepreneurs with corporate America, by providing small companies with the resources they need in order to accelerate their growth,” said Scott Cutler, Executive Vice President, NYSE Euronext. “As our nation turns its attention to the important role that small businesses play in the U.S. economy during National Small Business Week, we’re excited to launch an initiative that will help small and locally owned businesses grow and succeed.”

“The most frequent questions that Accion receives from small businesses relate to how they can market their businesses on a budget,” said Gina Harman, CEO of Accion’s U.S. Network. “Additionally, national data continuously suggests that access to capital is a barrier to business growth. The Small Business Connections tour will bring together leading national organizations in small business marketing and financing to increase access to these resources for hardworking small business owners looking to grow and create jobs.”

The co-branded workshops will be free of charge and will offer business owners practical takeaways on engaging with major online social media platforms and obtaining critical business financing with Accion. Yelp Business outreach staff and Accion loan consultants will be on hand to field questions and offer one‐on‐one consultations to participants.

“We not only want to provide insight into online review sites, we also want to promote opportunities for businesses to join the conversations that are happening about their company online,” said Jeremy Stoppelman, Yelp co-founder and CEO. “During these events, we will share tips on creating and optimizing a company’s online presence, best practices on engaging with their social media audiences and handling feedback from online reviewers.”

For more information on the Small Business Connections tour including registration, visit us.accion.org. Upcoming dates and locations include:

• June 12, 5:30 PM PST: City of Tucson Resource Campus, in the Sentinel Building in the Pantano and Santa Cruz rooms. 320 N. Commerce Park Loop, Tucson, AZ 85709 - Register
• June 14, 9:00 AM Central: 2310 Yale Street (Second Floor Seminar Space) Houston, Texas 77008 - Register
• June 16, 9:00 AM Central: TechRegister

About The NYSE Big StartUp

The NYSE Big StartUp is a nationwide jobs-growth initiative designed to connect young companies and entrepreneurs with corporate America, was launched by NYSE Euronext (NYX) in collaboration with Accion, Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) and The Startup America Partnership. The program calls on the nation’s corporate community to lend support, experience and resources to startups and small companies to improve procurement, networking, business development, training, marketing and information sharing. Yelp (NYSE: YELP), LinkedIn (NYSE: LNKD) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) are among the first corporations to participate in this endeavor. In addition to information and events to be provided as part of the initiative, a microfinance program called the Accion NYSE Job Growth Fund, started with a $1.5 million commitment by NYSE Euronext, will provide small businesses and startups with the capital and support they need to grow. For more information on The NYSE Big StartUp and how to engage with the partnership or to access a list of programs and events, please visit: www.nysebigstartup.com.

About Yelp

Yelp (NYSE: YELP) connects people with great local businesses. Yelp was founded in San Francisco in July 2004. Since then, Yelp communities have taken root in major metros across the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, The Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Australia, Sweden Denmark and Norway. Yelp had a monthly average of 71 million unique visitors in Q1 2012 (source: Google Analytics). By the end of Q1 2012, yelpers had written more than 27 million rich, local reviews, making Yelp the leading local guide for real word-of-mouth on everything from boutiques and mechanics to restaurants and dentists. Yelp's mobile application was used on 6.3 million unique mobile devices on a monthly average basis during Q1 2012. For more information, please visit http://www.yelp.com/.

About Accion

As the largest and only nationwide microlending network in the United States, Accion connects small business owners with financing and the support it takes to create or grow healthy businesses. We stand behind every small business owner as they achieve success, so that businesses – and entire communities – see real and lasting impact.

With over 20 years of experience, Accion has made over 44,000 loans totaling over $320 million since we opened our doors in the United States. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of business owners across the nation count on Accion for the access to financial services they need to keep their businesses working and growing. For more information about Accion, visit http://us.accion.org/.

About NYSE Euronext

NYSE Euronext (NYX) is a leading global operator of financial markets and provider of innovative trading technologies. The company's exchanges in Europe and the United States trade equities, futures, options, fixed-income and exchange-traded products. With approximately 8,000 listed issues (excluding European Structured Products), NYSE Euronext's equities markets — the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Euronext, NYSE MKT, NYSE Alternext and NYSE Arca — represent one-third of the world’s equities trading, the most liquidity of any global exchange group. NYSE Euronext also operates NYSE Liffe, one of the leading European derivatives businesses and the world's second-largest derivatives business by value of trading. The company offers comprehensive commercial technology, connectivity and market data products and services through NYSE Technologies. NYSE Euronext is in the S&P 500 index. For more information, please visit: http://www.nyx.com.