Helping community businesses thrive: Governor Polis and OEDIT announce 11 grants to support 58 small businesses
Governor Polis and the Business Funding & Incentives division of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade announced 11 Community Business Preservation grants to support community businesses and retain jobs across the state.
These grants will be paired with training and consultation for 58 unique, independently-owned small businesses in Colorado that are culturally, socially or historically significant and serve their communities in meaningful ways.
The Community Business Preservation Program fosters community preservation by awarding funding to groups of businesses that reflect the unique identities of their communities and are working together to respond to changes.
The recipients announced include rural businesses as well as BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and immigrant-owned businesses. They support a wide variety of needs in their communities, including ongoing financial impacts from the pandemic, rising rents or property taxes, recovery from disaster events including fires and neighborhood destabilization.
Three of the recipient groups come from coal transition communities, six are in rural communities and 57 of the 58 businesses represented are located in one or more areas prioritized by Colorado for economic development support, such as Rural Jump-Start Zones, Enterprise Zones and Coal Transition Communities.
Five agricultural producers in the rural communities of Routt and Moffat counties are working together to preserve local agricultural practices and traditions; Fetcher Ranch, Moon Hill Dairy, Mountain Bluebird Farm, Murr Made Meats and Snowden Meats. The sponsoring entity is Community Agriculture Alliance and the amount awarded was $160,000.
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