Keeping track of inventory, payroll, sales and taxes is a daunting chore.

When small business owners in Fort Dodge and Webster County need some advice or help dealing with it all they have a unique resource they can turn to.

The Small Business Task Force combines the resources of the Small Business Development Center, Main Street Fort Dodge, Iowa Central Community College and the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance to support local small businesses.

“It’s another great example of collaboration,” said Shelly Blunk, dean of economic development and continuing education at Iowa Central.

The task force was established two years ago with a narrow focus: preparing for an expected wave of retirements in the ranks of small business owners.

Kirsten Case Fuller, regional director of the Small Business Development Center, described that scenario as a “silver tsunami.”

“It’s just a concern everywhere,” she said.

Once a business closes because its owner retires, getting it open and running again is a very difficult chore. So the Small Business Task Force was initially very focused on identifying businesses at risk of closing and finding ways to transition them to new ownership.

But it soon became apparent that broadening the focus would benefit businesses and the community.

“We realized there was a need for more touchpoints,” Case Fuller said.

Now she said, the mission of the task force is providing resources and bringing businesses together.

“We are trying to build that entrepreneurial, small business culture and network,” she said.

Key to that effort are quarterly get-togethers hosted by the task force. Each get-together has a specific focus. For example, this month’s version will feature a presentation by MidAmerican Energy.

But the informal conversations that happen at the gatherings are as important as the presentation.

“A lot of times the value comes in the conversations amongst each other,” Blunk said.

Jefferson Fosbender, economic development director for the Growth Alliance, said there are a lot of “light bulb moments” during the quarterly session.

Often, the “light bulb moments” Fosbender spoke of don’t lead to immediate changes. Instead, they start a process that lead to future growth and changes.

“These plant some seeds for the future,” said Mary Green-Warnstadt, executive director of Main Street Fort Dodge. “It’s not necessarily a tomorrow thing.”

Through the Small Business Development Center, the task force also invites business owners to the Virtual Coffee Break. That is a program that covers a wide range of business topics. A watch party is held every month at the East Campus of Iowa Central Community College. Case Fuller described it as a “nice complement to the quarterly sessions.”