Small-business owners are busy people. And hiring a tech-support position isn’t always in the budget. But a reported new service from Apple may help close the tech gap, reported Portfolio.com.

The newly branded Joint Venture product, which is said to have the motto “Get Setup. Get Trained. Keep Running,” will cost small-business owners $500 per year, and will offer a bevy of oft-needed services:

- Priority service at Apple’s Genius bars in retail locations

- Access to a corporate tech support line manned by the Cupertino, Califorina-based company’s ubiquitous “geniuses”

- The ability to get a “loaner” MacBook Pro for repairs that take longer than 24 hours

- Up to three group-training sessions for as many as eight people, that follow the company’s one-to-one model

The initiative, expected to launch at an Apple event in San Francisco -Wednesday, March 2, 2011, will be available to companies buying a new Mac and will cover up to five machines. Additional computers can be added for $99 each per year.

Apple isn’t the first company to band around small businesses and entrepreneurs. JPMorgan Chase bought up multiple ads (at a reported cost of between $1.7 billion and $1.8 billion per 30 seconds) at the Oscars telecast Sunday night to tout its small-business lending arm. Rival American Express, which funds small business and entrepreneurs through its OPEN network, also made several pitches, asking consumers to "Shop Small."

At a time when signs of an economic recovery are mounting—and companies have plenty of cash on hand—investing in the small-business sector of the U.S. economy, which is responsible for two out of every three newly created jobs, is the hot new trend. Only time will tell if this has all the makings of a new bubble.