Budding entrepreneurs take note: Gov. Jim Doyle wants to help you start your own business — and in the process, provide a boost to Wisconsin’s economy.

Doyle Monday announced the formation of the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Network, a collaboration between the University of Wisconsin System, the Wisconsin Technical College System, the WiSys Technology Foundation and the Agricultural Innovation Center.

The new network aims to link entrepreneurs with resources enabling them to convert ideas into market success.

Department of Commerce spokesman Tony Hozeny said WEN will form an integrated network better facilitating business startups throughout the state.

“This will make sure people who want to start a business have convenient access to the resources they need,” Hozeny said. “[Entrepreneurs] need special services on how to raise capital, dealing with intellectual property rights and obtaining federal grants.”

The resources exist, Hozeny said, but new business owners in Wisconsin are often unable to access them.

The network will operate through 22 intake centers and four regional centers throughout the state. The intake centers will assess the feasibility of clients’ ideas and forward promising candidates to the regional centers — located at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, UW-Eau Claire, UW-Milwaukee and the Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay — for further counseling.

Included among the services WEN will offer are one-on-one counseling, educational workshops and strategies to access capital. The plan will assist new owners at all stages of business development.

The state DOC will provide $1 million in funding annually for the network during the next two years. WEN was approved under Wisconsin Act 225, which Doyle signed into law in the spring.

The initiative is part of Doyle’s Grow Wisconsin plan, a series of measures designed to accelerate the state’s move toward a high-end economy. Last week Doyle pledged $750 million in state money to create an advanced stem-cell research facility on the UW-Madison campus as part of the plan.

Although Wisconsin has shown signs of economic growth this year, the state remains plagued by an inability to attract business startups, experts say. Neighbor Minnesota, on the other hand, has been extremely successful in attracting new businesses and investment capital.

“This state historically is not a climate for investment,” UW System spokesman Doug Bradley said. “We haven’t been able to bring enough ideas to commercialization.”

Adding the entrepreneurial element to Wisconsin’s economy will lead to substantial job growth, Hozeny said. Officials expect a $500 million contribution to the state’s economy in the network’s first year.

“These businesses take a while to get up and going, but once they do, they’ll create a lot of jobs,” Hozeny said.

Among those who stand to benefit from the network, Bradley said, are current university students.

“We want this to be for students,” he said. “Look at the guys who invented Google and Yahoo!. We’re really trying to realign our resources and focus on business opportunities for entrepreneurs.”