Utah businesses are not making effective use of the local, state and federal assistance programs available to them, according to a survey conducted by two Utah State University professors.
These programs could be helpful to business people hoping to start new business or trying to expand current ones, said Marion Bentley, economics professor who conducted the study along with David Rogers, professor of sociology."Community leaders would be wise to encourage local businesses to make use of the assistance programs available," Bentley said. "It makes more sense to work with the established businesses than to try to entice an outside company to relocate into your area."
Among the publicly financed programs included in the survey were Small Business Development Centers, special loan programs and the Service Corps of Retired Executives.
Some 87 percent of the business owners surveyed said they were very or somewhat familiar with the programs of their own Chamber of Commmerce, but just 47 percent were familiar with the Small Business Development Centers scattered around the state. Familiarity with other programs dropped off from there.
Thirty-seven percent were familiar with local economic development services and 28 percent with the corps of retired executives. Familiarity with the Utah Technical Finance Corporation and the Utah Innovation Foundation was just over 20 percent.
"It's probably no surprise that business owners are not very familiar with many of these state and federal programs since even services provided by Chambers of Commerce and local economic development organizations are not well known," said Rogers.
Bentley said that some of these services are not as available in the state's rural areas because counties along the Wasatch Front with concentrations of businesses and people get the most attention. He added, state and community leaders need to do a better job of letting local business people know about existing programs in rural areas.
"The state might try using an 800 number where business people from across the state could get information on the programs," he said.
"Counties or associations of counties could target businesses with potential for development and bring these assistance programs to their attention. Chambers of Commerce should play a major role in letting people know about assistance available."
The advantage for helping businesses succeed and grow is the creation of more jobs, Rogers said. With encouragement and assistance, new or expanding businesses are likely to stay in the local community or at least in Utah, he said.