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Female entrepreneurs in Montgomery County have a new resource for the support and tools to help their ventures succeed.

The Rockville Women's Business Center, located for now in the offices of Rockville Economic Development Inc., opened on Thursday. The opening followed planning that included a 10-month feasibility study funded with a $25,000 grant by the Citi Foundation, a division of Citi Bank.

The foundation also hopes to fund the center's business development programs starting next year and the grant application process for that is already under way, said Tyler Daluz, a project manager in corporate and sustainability communications for Citigroup, in an e-mail to The Gazette.

The feasibility study determined that a women's business center was needed to provide programs for businesswomen throughout the county. Previously, Maryland's only women's business center was in Baltimore and the closest one for female entrepreneurs in Montgomery County was in Springfield, Va., according to an executive summary of the study.

A women's business center in Montgomery County with an annual budget of $225,000 also could assist more than 1,000 entrepreneurs, according to the study. The Rockville center will host seminars, provide technical assistance and offer networking opportunities for entrepreneurs looking to start women-oriented businesses, according to its website.

Initial funding for the Rockville center came from Citi Foundation as well as the Montgomery County Department of Economic Development.

Sally Sternbach, the economic development group's executive director, said the feasibility study documented the need for the center and that although women start almost as many businesses as men, those businesses don't grow at the same rate.

"We want to make sure women who do want to start a business have the tools so that they perform as well as we expect," Sternbach said.

She added that the center is staffed by its managing director, Lori Gillen, with plans to hire additional instructors, mentors and coaches.

"It's exciting to start a new initiative and add a new resource," Gillen said. "I'm hoping that women can become a stronger economic engine and I hope to push women to create a business, generate wealth, create jobs and grow their business at the same pace as men."

The new center "continues our efforts to partner with other organizations to provide services to area businesses," said Steven A. Silverman, the county's economic development director. "This is another partnership that allows us to leverage federal funds to help small and minority-owned businesses."

The center is due to start receiving federal Small Business Administration funding in January 2012, Silverman said.

chuntemann@gazette.net