A Bend business owner contends that Deschutes County plans to unfairly fund new competition that could put her out of business.

Connie Eves, owner of Central Oregon Builders Exchange, said the county is set to give money to the Central Oregon Builders Association to provide a service she already performs: helping builders find jobs.

“I don’t think the county should fund a nonprofit group into competition against a small business that is already in business,” Eves said.

The Deschutes County Commission voted in August to give COBA a $50,000 loan to pay for computers and software training for contractors. The computers and training will support software that links contractors to building projects, said Tim Knopp, COBA’s executive vice president.

He said the software is “substantially” different than what the Central Oregon Builders Exchange uses, and that the county will not look to be repaid for the loan if COBA can show it created jobs. COBA started in 1972 and counts as members about 600 contractors, subcontractors and other people involved with construction.

Through the software project, COBA is trying to lower the cost of finding projects for builders, Knopp said.

“(The association) is working to bring value to its members,” he said, “not to make a profit off its members.”

COBA’s service costs $200 per year for members, Knopp said. Annual membership dues range from $325 for subcontractors to $515 for developers.

The Central Oregon Builders Exchange’s services cost $350 a year for listings of projects searchable online and full plans available at the office, and $675 a year for listings and plans online.

While the county hasn’t signed a contract with COBA to finalize the loan, Erik Kropp, interim county administrator, said Friday he doesn’t know when that will happen. He said the commission talked Monday about Eves’ concerns, but it was during an executive session, which was closed to the public. He declined to give any details.

Eves said she’s concerned that, through its software, COBA will undercut her business. She said the Central Oregon Builders Exchange has been a clearinghouse for building projects around the state since 1979.

For 11 years, that clearinghouse has been on the Internet and builders looking for a project could search for it using the company’s software, Eves said. The company has about 400 clients.

As the building industry has sagged in recent years, so has the number of companies paying to be customers. The decline in business prompted Eves to lay off two of the company’s four workers in late August.

Now the company — which Eves bought in 2005 — is down to her, one full-time employee and one part-time employee. COBA’s entrance into competition could snuff the company out, Eves said.

“It’s very rare that you ever have two plan centers in one town,” she said.

While Max Merrill — a Bend attorney with Merrill O’Sullivan — sent a letter to the county in August warning that Eves may file a lawsuit, Eves said Friday that she likely can’t afford a legal fight.