Grass Sticks founder Andrew Beckler is in British Columbia this week working to open a new production facility in Revelstoke to help the Steamboat Springs-based business expand sales in the Canadian market.

Beckler said the Grass Sticks expansion effort received financial assistance to help with travel and legal costs through a recently awarded Colorado Advanced Industries Export Grant. The company’s connection to the grant program was facilitated through a summer workshop on international export opportunities hosted by the nonprofit Routt County Economic Development Partnership.

“They (RCEDP) have been able to point me in the right direction and connect with a lot of state grants specially with OEDIT,” the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, Beckler said. “There is a lot out there, but it’s hard to navigate it all.”

Helping businesses in Routt County survive and grow is the mission of the private-public nonprofit Economic Development Partnership, and all services are provided for free. Keith Hensley, director of existing industry at the partnership, works to fill information gaps and resource needs to help owners of current businesses succeed.

Hensley said Routt County is home to approximately 1,600 businesses with addresses within the county and at least one paid employee. The partnership particularly focuses on fostering business success for the 300 “primary” businesses that export goods and services outside of Routt County and bring outside dollars into Routt County. Those primary businesses sell everything from recreational gear to agricultural products. Primary businesses in turn support the success of some 1,300 secondary businesses in the county that largely circulate money within the community.

Based on that number of 1,600 Routt County businesses, Hensley currently is working to encourage 10% or some 160 companies to participate in the partnership’s third annual survey for the Yampa Valley Business Retention and Expansion Study by the Dec. 12 deadline. Input from the 10-minute online survey allows the partnership to identify trends longitudinally year-after-year in the valley’s business environment and to zero in on business challenges and opportunities. The survey link is RCEDP.org/2025-yampa-valley-business-retention-study.

The economic development organization’s programming is focused on supporting entrepreneurs and start-up businesses including free business counseling and the High County Accelerator cohort-based six-week master class for businesses.

Hensley said the categories that business owners say they most commonly need help with include finances, technology, networking and regulatory issues. Business owners with busy daily duties also may need help finding suitable services for accounting, attorneys, insurance, grant programs or revolving loan funds.

Hensley said the survey input has highlighted such business struggles as owners needing help with state tax credits, reducing energy use, affordable transportation of products and supplies, and hiring and retaining quality and reliable employees. Business owners often need assistance with start-up or expansion capital to reach the next stage in their business plans or to hire more employees.

“Anecdotally, some business owners will say, ‘hey, it’s expensive here, and we are looking at other places to move if we can’t get certain staffing and or if can’t get what we need,'” Hensley said.

Steamboat Springs business co-founder Robin Hall at Town Hall Outdoor Co. is a big fan of the Economic Development Partnership and encourages fellow business owners to provide input for the online survey.

“I highly encourage every small business in the county to fill out the survey because it’s going to provide valuable insights and be incredibly helpful for all businesses,” Hall said.

Hall’s company benefitted from assistance from the Economic Development Partnership that guided her company through a successful application in 2021 for a $50,000 grant from the Rural Jump-Start Program. The grant helped the company founded in 2020 with tasks ranging from marketing to operating expenses, Hall said.

“We could not be doing business in Routt County without the RCEDP,” Hall said. “They are monumental in constantly providing support and resources for us.”

RCEDP Executive Director John Bristol said the focus of the partnership is to support businesses in remaining viable through decreased costs and increased revenue while other sectors of the greater community tackle the perennial problems of securing affordable housing, child care and employee health insurance.

The partnership is hosting the next informational session requested by business owners, “Succession Planning through Employee Ownership Workshop,” set for 11 a.m. Friday in Steamboat, with registration at RCEDP.org.

During 2023 and 2024, the nonprofit partnership provided more than 400 resources to local businesses to help with retention or expansion issues. In those two years, the partnership also tracked $780,000 in total state tax credits for local businesses, largely through the state’s free Enterprise Zone Program that encourages development in economically distressed areas of the state.

Of the 61 businesses – large and small – that completed the business retention and expansion survey in 2024, owners reported more than $97 million in non-personnel investments last year for everything from new equipment to remodeling expenses.