Islanders with an entrepreneurial idea and the desire to be their own boss eventually find themselves knocking on Sharon Hart’s door.

The Island County Economic Development Corporation is a resource for the entrepreneur, those hoping to start a business and those thinking about expansion of an existing business. As director of the EDC, Hart sees them all.

“This year it has run from wine shops to dog walking,” she said of the business ideas the EDC has been involved in.

They come in search of financing or market information or demographics or business plan development or the right location or a host of other business-related planning efforts.

It’s the place for people with a good idea, but don’t know where to start, she said. In a typical year the EDC assists more than 150 businesses on the island. This year may not be typical. During the first three months, 62 businesses have already requested help.

“Generally, that’s people doing startups,” she said. The assistance might be as simple as helping people understand licensing requirements or it might require deep involvement in lands issues with the Island County Planning Department.

“I’ll do a commercial for them anytime,” Hart said. “When I have a really difficult and complex issue, the planning department is usually in on that conversation and they’re always helpful.”

The EDC’s efforts have paid off, she said, in affecting more than 100 jobs in Island County last year.

“I don’t like to take credit for creating jobs. That’s the employers doing the job creation,” she said. “We just help the employer in some way or another.”

Due to confidentiality, Hart can’t be specific about who has been helped. But, she did say that many of those entrepreneurs are coming from South Whidbey. Of the 62 businesses helped so far this year, 16 are from Freeland, Langley, or Clinton, she said.

John Graham, the cofounder of the The Giraffe Project in Langley, has been a board member on the council for more than six years. When driving around South Whidbey today, he says, the types of businesses developing here are appropriate and fit in with the local community’s values. And that’s something he and other South Whidbey representatives are striving to maintain.

“What’s important is we’ve changed how people look at economic development county wide,” he said. “You can’t have no growth, but growth has to be island friendly, environmentally sound, and size appropriate.”

In addition to helping businesses, the EDC also works on job retention and recruitment. That can include everything from lobbying for the Naval Air Station to legislative advocacy in Olympia.

“It’s quite a variety of activities because economic development at times is supporting community development,” she said.

The EDC sponsors the Uniquely Whidbey Trade Fair which is held each October in Coupeville. Last year 130 vendors met with 4,000 potential customers at the weekend fair.

“It’s a great venue for island businesses who want to make the public aware that they’re here,” Hart said.

The EDC annual meeting this year will highlight the potential for the island to tap into the high tech industries, including research and development and engineering. It’s one area that the EDC is courting to recruit new businesses to the island, Hart said.

She singled out Scivex Upchurch Scientific in Oak Harbor as the type of business that would do well on the island. The company produces high tech medical applications and provides around 100 good paying jobs, she said.

Tad Wilkins, director of the Regional Technical Services of the Washington Technology Center will speak on “Strengthening Communities through Technology for Economic Development.” The center has been focused on getting the techno entrepreneur to the marketplace, but lately has focused on benefitting rural areas, Hart said.

Graham said that in addition to high tech firms, the EDC is targeting call centers, credit card centers, accounting firms, and other low-impact companies with high-impact payrolls. In particular, Graham said he’s pushing for more nonprofit businesses, such as his own Giraffe Project, to establish offices here.

“We want to get the word out that Whidbey is looking for those businesses and will welcome them,” Hart said.