General Operating Matching Grant

The Rural Jump-Start Program is administered by the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, or OEDIT, through its Business Funding and Incentives division. The program is a collaborative effort involving the state, local governments, institutes of higher education, and economic development organizations. Authorized in 2015 and launched in 2016 as a tax incentive program, Rural Jump-Start was expanded in 2021 to include grant funding. Its purpose is to encourage new businesses to start in or relocate to economically distressed rural Colorado counties designated as Rural Jump-Start zones, bring income into those counties through the export of goods or services, and create qualifying new jobs. Program tax benefits are available through December 31, 2030, while grant benefits are available through June 30, 2028. The General Operating Matching Grant provides reimbursement for eligible operating expenses incurred by approved Rural Jump-Start businesses. Following a January 16, 2025 decision by the Colorado Economic Development Commission, $630,000 in Strategic Fund dollars was allocated to continue grant funding through June 30, 2028 or until all funds are awarded. Businesses in Rural Jump-Start zones may receive operating grants of up to $15,000, while businesses located in zones that are also Tier 1 Just Transition communities may receive up to $25,000. The program matches operating expenses on a 3:1 or 25 percent basis and has a minimum reimbursement of $5,000. Eligible reasonable business expenses can include rent or mortgage expenses, equipment, salaries, marketing, utility bills, and similar operating costs. Tax-related expenses, late fees, purchases that also personally benefit the owner, and expenses incurred before Economic Development Commission approval are not reimbursable. OEDIT retains discretion to deny reimbursement requests. Applicants must be new businesses that are not operating by selling a product or service in Colorado when they submit their application, although planning, fundraising, recruiting, market research, design and prototyping, business formation, manufacturing, testing a proof of concept, and certain associated revenue may occur before application. A business must locate in a participating Rural Jump-Start zone, export goods or services outside its county, establish a relationship with a sponsoring entity, follow the business plan submitted with its application, and not operate as a sole proprietorship. It also cannot directly compete with the core function of an existing business in its applicant county or an adjacent economically distressed county. Participating zones include designated counties throughout rural Colorado. Tier 1 Just Transition communities receiving access to the higher grant level include Moffat County, western Montrose County, Morgan County, Pueblo County, Rio Blanco County, and Routt County. Businesses must also meet employment requirements that depend on county population. During the partial calendar year of approval, no new hires are required. In the first full calendar year, at least one qualifying new hire is required. By the second full calendar year, businesses in counties with populations under 100,000 must have two new hires and those in counties above 100,000 must have three. By the third full year and thereafter, the respective requirements are three and five new hires. A qualifying New Hire must earn at least the county average annual wage, receive a W-2 from the business, be legally authorized to work in the United States, reside in Colorado, remain employed with the business for at least six months, work at least 35 hours per week, and spend at least 80 percent of non-travel work time at a location within the Rural Jump-Start zone. The last $5,000 of a grant award is awarded after the business has created and maintained a New Hire job for at least one year. Before applying, a business must contact a sponsoring entity in its Rural Jump-Start zone for a pre-application meeting to determine program eligibility and work with that entity on a Memorandum of Understanding describing their relationship. Rural Jump-Start staff then provide access to the application through the OEDIT Salesforce portal, and the applicant collaborates with its sponsoring entity to complete and review the application. Required materials include a business plan addressing customers, competitors, contribution to the economic base, and plans to export goods or services outside the county; a pro-forma income statement for the next three years; income statements and balance sheets for the previous three years when applicable; a five-year forecast of total employees and New Hires; and percentages of sales within Colorado, outside Colorado, and outside the United States. New portal users are manually activated, which may take several days. OEDIT conducts a competitive analysis of the applicant's county and adjacent economically distressed counties. During a one-month waiting period, an existing Colorado business in those areas may challenge an application on the basis that the applicant would directly compete with its core function. OEDIT reviews any challenge and determines whether the application should proceed. Applications that pass the competitive analysis and challenge process are presented to the Colorado Economic Development Commission for final approval. The Commission meets on the third Thursday of every month, and the process generally takes six to eight weeks from submission to Commission review. After approval, a new business must submit its first grant reimbursement invoice within 18 months or its grant funds will be recaptured. There is a cap of three new grant awards per county, scheduled for reevaluation in January 2027. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, with grant benefits continuing through June 30, 2028 or until the allocated grant funds are exhausted. Approved businesses have continuing compliance obligations, including annual reports generally due by the last day of January for the preceding year. OEDIT reviews annual reports and new-hire compliance, and benefits may be suspended when hiring requirements are not met. A business failing the requirements again in the following year loses Rural Jump-Start status and must reapply. The named program manager is Quina Weber-Shirk, Rural Funding Senior Program Manager. The source provides the general OEDIT contact information as oedit.info@state.co.us and 303.892.3840. OEDIT is located at 1600 Broadway, Ste. 2500, Denver, CO 80202.

Demonstrate clearly that the applicant is not already operating by selling a product or service in Colorado; distinguish the business's core function from existing businesses in the applicant county and adjacent economically distressed counties; explain how goods or services will be exported outside the county; establish and document a meaningful relationship with the Sponsoring Entity; provide a credible business plan and hiring forecast; ensure reimbursement expenses occur only after EDC approval; submit the first reimbursement invoice within 18 months of approval.