Five community colleges and two vocational technical institutes located in King County, Washington, together with the Washington State Department of Employment Security, undertook a research project to (1) collect nationally available information on current research and successful practices in assistance to small businesses; (2) conduct a survey of local King County resources for small businesses; and (3) develop a pilot plan for working together to improve services to small business. Two consultants worked with the consortium and a 12-member business advisory board during a five-month period on these objectives. At project's end, consortium members had information on the reasons for small business failure; reviews of 28 model programs and in-depth reports on 3 of them; a survey of the educational programs offered for small businesses by all of the state-supported community colleges and vocational schools in the county; and reference manuals of local and state/national resources. Finally, the consultants recommended six goals toward which the consortium can work during the next two years. The consortium is planning a project that will include development of a joint core curriculum of intensive courses for small businesses, research to provide information for small businesses in the county, and forging links with other organizations serving small businesses. (Following an 11-page narrative, appendixes include information on the recruitment and services of consultants, an annotated bibliography on small business training needs and causes of failure, a survey of model training programs, a summary of institutional offerings for small businesses, and the consortium mission statement and membership.) (KC)