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Boulder County Small Business

Funding Opportunities

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General Funding

Black Business Loan Fund
for black-owned small businesses

Description

This program features low-barrier, low-rate loans plus business coaching.

 

Eligibility

  • Be a black-owned small business

Funding Amount

  • Loans between $1,000 and $50,000
  • 60-month term with 6-months interest only
  • Maximum interest rate of 2.99%
  • Flexible underwriting

Deadline to Apply:

N/A

 

Business Foundations Technical Assistance Program
for all small businesses

Description

This program provides technical assistance and small grants to Colorado small businesses to help businesses legally establish themselves. The program provides three training sessions and a small reimbursable grant of up to $1,200 per business to help apply the training. Businesses can take any of these training options. Businesses that are not yet legally established are encouraged to take the Legal Formation and Registration training before taking the other two training options. The three training options available are:

  1. Legal Formation and Registration – helps you legally incorporate your business and access the benefits of training programs and grants from local and federal governments
  2. Accounting and Finance – helps you create and learn to manage the accounting system for your business to be able to clearly report your company’s financial information to facilitate access to finance necessary to grow your business
  3. Digital Marketing and E-commerce – helps you digitize your business to improve client relationships, increase the presence of your brand in the market and create new opportunities to deliver your products and services

Eligibility

  • Any small business that want to be establish legally in Colorado
  • Small businesses in Colorado that want to create their basic accounting system and incorporate digital tools to improve their reach and customer service

Funding Amount

After completing the training sessions, businesses may apply to receive a small grant award of up to $1,200 to reimburse for expenses related to that training and the installation of an accounting system and digital tools for the business.

Deadline to Apply:

Open until funds are exhausted

Cannabis Business Technical Assistance
for cannabis business owners and professionals

Description

This is a free, online educational program focused on the foundations of business development in the cannabis industry. Registration is required. The program is self-paced and available on demand.

 

Eligibility

Open

 

Funding Amount

N/A — free technical assistance

 

Deadline to Apply:

Open-ended

 

Cash Collateral Support
for businesses that are short on collateral to support a loan

Description

Lenders can apply for up to 25% or $250,000 (whichever is less) in collateral to support a business loan application. The program will deposit the agreed-upon amount with the lender making the loan. The Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) manages this program. Typically, CHFA looks to support businesses that will have a significant economic impact on the local community or state.

 

Eligibility

  • Principal place of business is in Colorado
  • Less than 750 employees
  • Reasonable expectation that borrower will be able to repay the loan as agreed

Funding Amount

Credit enhancement of up to $250,000

 

Deadline to Apply:

Rolling

 

CLIMBER Loan Fund Program
for established small businesses

Description

A pool of $250 million that will be used to induce small business lending through participating banks. Loans will be fully underwritten and borrowers will need to meet acceptable credit criteria. Intended for use as working capital with some exceptions.

 

Eligibility

  • Principal place of business is in Colorado
  • 5 to 99 employees
  • Two consecutive years of positive cash flow within the last 5 fiscal years prior to Feb 29, 2020
  • A debt-service-coverage-ratio of at least 1:1 prior to Feb 29, 2020

Funding Amount

  • $30,000 to $500,000
  • 1 to 5 year terms
  • Up to 1 year payment deferment
  • Up to 20% balloon payment
  • Interest rates ranging from 2.45% to 2.95%

The fund will provide credit enhancements to the lending institution to facilitate the loan.

 

Deadline to Apply:

Until funds are exhausted

 

Colorado Community Revitalization Grants
for businesses, governments, special districts and more

Description

The Colorado Community Revitalization Grant provides gap funding for projects in creative districts, historic districts, main streets or neighborhood commercial centers. This grant will support creative projects that combine creative industry commercial spaces, performance space, community gathering spaces, child care centers, retail and workforce housing partnerships for the purpose of economic recovery and diversification by supporting creative sector entrepreneurs, artisans, and community non-profit organizations.

Eligibility

Eligible projects will serve as a catalyst for a community’s commercial center and can be new construction or renovation. Projects need to:

  • Be a creative mixed-use space that includes workforce housing units
  • Have a high level of community engagement in response to community needs
  • Show strong evidence of being able to attract additional sources of funding and broad support from local governments and surrounding communities or neighborhoods
  • Stimulate economic recovery and economic diversification
  • Demonstrate an ability to commence work within a reasonable amount of time
  • Meet basic energy efficiency standards

Funding Amount

  • Maximum of $5 million
  • Capped at 50% of total costs for projects over $100,000

Deadline to Apply:

Rolling

Colorado Revolving Loan Fund
for startups and small- to medium-sized businesses with a focus on socially- and economically-disadvantaged groups

Description

This is a loan program with amounts ranging from $5,000 to $750,000. Interest rates will vary with a targeted average interest rate of 4% and terms of up to 20 years.

 

Eligibility

  • Open to for-profits and non-profits from a wide variety of business sectors, including outdoor recreation, tourism, food services, hospitality and creative industries.
  • To the extent permitted by federal law, will consider USDA-certified hemp businesses and value-added hemp manufacturing businesses
  • Special focus on underserved groups which include: minority, Native American, immigrant, women, disabled, veteran-owned and businesses in low income and rural communities
  • Underwriting criteria may include non-traditional items such as character-based lending

Funding Amount

  • Principal amounts of between $5,000 and $750,000
  • The fund will provide credit enhancements to the lending institution to facilitate the loan

Deadline to Apply:

N/A

 

Colorado Startup Loan Program
for all small businesses

Description

 

The fund will focus on small businesses that are unable to qualify for traditional financing.


Eligibility

  • Colorado-based, for-profit businesses
  • 25 or fewer employees (FTE)
  • Less than $2 million in revenue
  • Unable to obtain traditional financing

Funding Amount

  • Up to $150,000
  • Term of up to 10 years
  • Available for working capital, startup expenses, tenant improvements, commercial real estate, equipment and, in some cases, debt restructuring and business acquisitions

Deadline to Apply

None (this is a revolving loan fund).

Employee Ownership Tax Credit
for businesses transitioning to an employee-owned structure

Description

This program provides tax credits to cover some of the costs of transition to an employee-owned structure.

 

Eligibility

  • Colorado-based companies

Funding Amount

This program provides tax credits for up to 50% of the conversions costs with a cap of $25,000 for worker-owned cooperatives and employee ownership trusts and up to $100,000 for employee stock ownership plans.

 

Deadline to Apply:

This program is funded through January 1, 2027.

 

Rural Jump-Start Zone Grants
for new business operations in designated rural communities

Description

This program provides grants to businesses that establish new operations in designated rural communities.

 

Eligibility

These counties are currently rural jump-start zones:

  • Archuleta
  • Clear Creek
  • Delta
  • Dolores
  • Las Animas
  • Logan
  • Mesa
  • Moffat
  • Montezuma
  • Montrose
  • Otero
  • Prowers
  • Rio Blanco
  • Routt
  • San Juan

These counties are designated as economically distressed. They are eligible to be rural jump-start zones, but they have not yet applied to the program:

  • Alamosa
  • Baca
  • Bent
  • Cheyenne
  • Conejos
  • Costilla
  • Crowley
  • Cyster
  • Fremont
  • Hinsdale
  • Huerfano
  • Jackson
  • Kiowa
  • Kit Carson
  • Lake
  • Lincoln
  • Mineral
  • Morgan
  • Phillips
  • Pueblo
  • Rio Grande
  • Saguache
  • Sedgwick
  • Washington
  • Yuma

These areas are Tier 1 Just Transition communities:

  • Moffat
  • Western Montrose
  • Morgan
  • Pueblo
  • Rio Blanco
  • Routt

Funding Amount

Up to $40,000 or $5,000 per new hire, plus additional tax relief

 

Deadline to Apply:

Rolling

 

Small Business Accelerated Growth Program
for small businesses with 19 or fewer employees

Description

This is an on-going program for small businesses. There are three modules: Access to Capital, Market Research and Digital Marketing and Online Presence. The modules will be offered on a revolving bases at various times throughout the year. Businesses accepted into one of the modules will complete a series of online training sessions and will then be eligible for a grant in varying amounts.

Eligibility

Businesses will be selected based on completion of an application.

Funding Amount/Range

Grants will be available in varying amounts based on the specific module. The grants are competitive and not all participants will receive a grant.

Deadline to Apply

Revolving

Need help?

The SBDC has consultants available to answer your questions about COVID funding programs and help walk you through the applications. Request a virtual appointment below.

I'M NEW TO THE SBDCI'M AN EXISTING SBDC CLIENT

The COVID funding webpages have been created through a partnership between the Boulder SBDC and Boulder County Commissioners’ Office.

"The Take Action Marketing Series was invaluable for me as a small-business/non-profit director. Catherine McHale brought such helpful insight and expertise to these workshops, and she’s an empathetic and astute facilitator. I walked away so much more knowledgeable and confident in my approach to marketing, and armed with practical skills and strategies that I could begin to implement right away. I highly recommend!"
Joanna CaganWOW! Children's Museum
"The small business support from Colorado SBDC is phenomenal. The consultants are of the highest quality, high integrity, trustworthy and incredibly helpful. The time savings and ability to take on more work is facilitated by having this kind of support available to the small business, particularly in the technology sector."
Helen PetachRatiocinative Engineering Services LLC
"Dan, thank you for your efforts to help us get our EIDL. When I reached out to the SBDC, Sharon got back to me the same day and let me know that the SBDC would do what it could to help. By the end of the next day, Dan had put together a summary of the issues we were facing and sent it to his contact at the SBA. Just four business days later, our loan was approved! There is no shortage of challenges faced by small companies as they work tirelessly to succeed in a very competitive world, so it's great to know that there are organizations like the Boulder SBDC that we can turn to for help."
Michael DulbergSherpa Chai, LLC
“Thank you for organizing this great informative session on the PPP utilization part. I have been in conversation with Dan King and want you to know that you guys are doing a great job in helping small businesses like us. Thank you for all the work you guys do!”
DURGESH SINGHMagswitch Technology
"These [webinars] are super helpful and I can’t thank you and the [SBDC] for all your help for our small Colorado businesses. These are such hard and scary times - being connected does a world of good. Please thank all the panel participants as well. They’ve been fantastic! Best wishes to you and your colleagues and hope you’re all staying safe."
JacqueJourney's Aviation
"A big shout out to Dan and the staff of Boulder SBDC and the SBA from Mustards Last Stand. Thank you for your assistance in helping Mustards resolve a technical issue with our application for our second round funding of the PPP program. Without your assistance I would probably still be on hold listening to maddening music over and over and over again, while worrying the whole time. We appreciate the support from you and everyone else in this community that makes us proud to be an ongoing part of Boulder's business community."
Dan PolovinMustards Last Stand
“Thank you so much for your time! Besides the great information, your energy and support were priceless! It is so good to feel you are not alone in this journey.”
LAILA MARZALLTSM Microwave
"After almost two months of messing with Chase Bank, Susan got us the PPP loan filed and approved in about 8 hours. I hesitate to celebrate until money is in the bank, but it’s looking good and Susan was absolutely amazing. Of course, I’m wouldn't even be talking to Susan if you hadn't made the connection, so chalk up another small business success to SBDC. I see why you’re the best on the country. This loan was crucial to our success at a critical time in the world. All I can say is thank you."
Jeff S.Earthvisionz
“As a new resident in rural Colorado I was truly at a loss about the tech community out here until I attended the SBDC TechSource event in Salida. I was truly impressed by the quality of the content at the event (compared to similar events in Chicago), was able to make some great connections within the local community, and was able to sign up for additional services as well. SBDC assisted us with market research which helped expedite our focus in Colorado and helped connect us with funding sources to expand. Beyond that they were quick to respond, a pleasure to work with, and went above and beyond with their services. I would absolutely recommend SBDC TechSource to another tech company, especially for companies outside of the front range that are looking to connect and grow rapidly. “
CHRIS MCLAUGHLINVital Command
"I just wanted to send a quick note and let you know how helpful Brian Ormsby has been. He responded to my query about a week and answered a bunch of questions about the EIDL, and then we talked again to day about the PPP. I’ve asked several other resources about my PPP questions and he was the first person to answer them. I can’t stress enough how nice it is to be able to talk directly to someone who can answer questions about all of these programs. So thank you very much for making him available...!"
David PAccuer, Inc.
"I'm not sure if this email goes through, but I just wanted to say thank you so much for hosting this webinar. As a small business that is running because of the SBDC, I am so appreciative of what you do for business owners. I went to film school and I'm only successful in my business because of the years of support I've gotten from the SBDC to help me get a business mindset and navigate the crazy waters of running a company. In all of this uncertainty, it's felt like I couldn't find good, solid answers on our PPP loan, and this webinar was so helpful and the tool of the PPP Loan Forgiveness Estimator is so comforting to get some answers. Keep up the good work, and stay healthy out there. With much appreciation."
Shawna M.FX Media
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Boulder
1500 Pearl St., Suite 300 (physical)
1500 Pearl St., Suite 302 (mailing)
Boulder, CO 80302

Longmont
528 Main St.
Longmont, CO 80501

303-442-1475
admin@bouldersbdc.com

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CONSULTANT PORTAL

The Colorado Small Business Development Center Network is a partnership between the State of Colorado, Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, the Small Business Administration (SBA), Colorado’s institutions of higher education, local economic development organizations and local chambers of commerce.

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