Grow Utah Ventures

UNLEASHING UTAH'S TALENT

$1 million fund to support new entrepreneurs

BY JEFF DEMOSS
Standard-Examiner staff jdemoss @standard .net

   OGDEN � A new partnership between a local venture capital fund and county governments will pump $1 million into statewide efforts to develop new businesses.
   Grow Utah Ventures, a private fund started by local entrepreneur and MarketStar Corp. founder Alan Hall, has joined with the Governor�s Office of Economic Development and the Economic Development Corporation of Utah to establish the initiative, known as Stimulating the Expansion of Entrepreneurial Development.
   SEED Utah will offer roughly $1 for every $2 that county governments invest in entrepreneurial development. It will also offer the expertise of Grow Utah Ventures advisers in helping companies get off the ground.
   �SEED Utah is an invitation from the private sector to community leaders across the state to focus their energies and interest in stimulating the expansion of entrepreneurism,� said T. Craig Bott, president and chief executive of Grow Utah Ventures.
   �These communities are required to match our private grant with their own funds, and then use these resources in specific ways to encourage the creation of high-growth companies.�
   The first SEED Utah project, in Washington County, is dubbed SEED Dixie. Hall said plans are in the works for counties in Northern Utah and elsewhere in the state.
   �We went to Washington County first because they need to diversify their economy,� he said. �I�ve also met with some local leaders to introduce the thought and see if there was any interest, and there was.�
   Depending on the level of interest, a second round of funding will follow once the initial $1 million investment mark is reached. Funding will also come from corporate sponsors.
   �There will more than likely be other initiatives,� Hall said. �Over time, we may find other sponsors.�
   Funding from SEED Utah will go only to counties where the local leaders recognize the need to make entrepreneurism a key focus of their economic growth strategy.
   The grant money will come in two phases. The first round will be used to develop a strategy for fostering entrepreneurism and stimulating business growth, followed by additional funding for implementing specific programs and efforts at the county level.
   Hall said economic development at the county level is not coordinated and organized as much as it should be, and �this is our attempt to do that. We see ourselves as facilitators.�
   �If Grow Utah Ventures is going to do great things for the state, we have to have three components: condition, invest and rally,� he said. �This is the rallying part � to get governments and all kinds of people supporting it.�
   Governor�s Office of Economic Development Executive Director Jason Perry called the initiative �a wonderful example of how private leadership and momentum can effectively be applied in a public/private partnership.�
   He said: �Creative solutions such as this effort help maximize Utah�s entrepreneurial talent.�