With its eye on the faltering economy, a small-business counseling group announced Wednesday the launch of an online networking portal that aims to provide small-business owners with free tools and advice for enduring the recession.

The group -- SCORE, the “Counselors to America’s Small Business” -- hopes its new Web site will serve as a resource for small-business owners to discuss issues, receive advice and interact with other members of the business community. SCORE is a not-for-profit organization that enlists working and retired business executives to teach workshops and offer counseling to small-business owners across the country.

The site, which can be found at http://www.scorecommunity.org, grants members the opportunity to connect with the 100,000 members already active on PartnerUp -- an online community targeted solely toward business owners and entrepreneurs.

SCORE Chief Executive Ken Yancey said he hopes the site will help members make a “direct connection with experienced entrepreneurs,” adding that the current economic climate makes that connection all the more important.

SCORE’s networking site is the latest of a number of projects geared at giving the small-business population a stronger voice. Last week, the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU, launched a toll-free hotline and Web site for small-business owners and employees concerned about the lending practices of banks that received Troubled Asset Relief Program funds.