PORTLAND —  A free event called “Maine Get Your Business Online” will be held July 27 at the Portland Regency Hotel from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. hosted by Google.

The event will provide business owners with free technical assistance and software tools to start a website and also enhance their current Web-based operations. Those interested in participating will find more information at www.MaineGetOnline.com.

U.S. Sen. Olympia J. Snowe, R-Maine, the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, invited Google to Maine for the one-day seminar with the goal of assisting the state’s small businesses in beginning or expanding their online presence.

In a statement, Snowe said that while 97 percent of Americans look online for local products and services, 59 percent of Maine small businesses do not have a website. “The July 27th event . . . will provide our state’s entrepreneurs with the necessary tools to establish and develop an online presence.”

Snowe invited Facebook to lead a forum in Augusta in January, where several hundred small business owners learned how to utilize the social media site to better market their companies to new and existing customers.