Tooele County's Office of Economic Development is developing a small-business resource center to help start-up ventures and strengthen existing small businesses in the county. The center will be located in the old J.C. Penney building recently purchased by the county at 41 South Main Street in Tooele, according to Nicole Cline, Tooele County director of economic development.

The county has received a $28,000 grant from the Governors Office of Economic Development to fund the new center initially, but plans to seek additional funding from the state. Cline said some costs may have to be absorbed by the users of the center, but the county is trying to keep those to a minimum.

The center is scheduled to open in the next six months, according to Cline.

The resource center will offer classes in a variety of topics including marketing, business law, human resources, risk management, business finance and taxes. The classes will taught by staff from the Small Business Development Center at Salt Lake Community College. New business owners will learn how to prepare a business plan before they go to the bank looking for financing. The idea is to provide a place where local entrepreneurs can gather the information they need and acquire the necessary business knowledge to be successful.

"Many people have great technical knowledge about their product or service and have great ideas, but they lack business savvy," said Cline.

The center will also help existing small business owners who may have reached a plateau and need to discover new markets or need help keeping up with growth, according to Cline.

Economic development doesn't mean just attracting new companies to the county, Cline said. The county is also working to retain and help grow existing companies as part of its overall economic development plan.

"There is real value in growing local business," said Cline, adding that small businesses tend to spend their money locally, which offers residual benefits to other local businesses and the community in general.

Small businesses in Utah employ nearly half of the private-sector workforce and are responsible for 60 percent to 80 percent of new job creation annually, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Tim Gillie: tgillie@tooeletranscript.com