NWCCOG Economic Development District

Resources Bulletin

June 21, 2024

All Resources Bulletins are archived HERE.

Training Opportunities & Events

From Acquisition to Exit Workshop

June 27 | 8:30 a.m. -10:30 am | Basalt Library | Details and Register Here. Offered by the Basalt Chamber of Commerce. Join this in-person workshop for a panel discussion with local business owners to learn how to successfully navigate buying and selling a small business.

HR Checkup: State & Federal Minimum Wage Laws & Exempt Classifications

June 27 | 9:00am | Register. Offered by the NW Colorado Small Business Development Center. Are you new to hiring employees and confused about how to classify and pay them? Or maybe you're ready to expand your workforce and need to know the most current information to ensure compliance. Join this training to gather expertise in the area of state and federal employee compensation law. 

Mayors Leadership Academy

Begins August 8 | In person in various location | Details here. Offered by the Colorado Municipal League. Leading a city comes with unique challenges — and solutions. In partnership with Colorado Municipal League and the Metro Mayors Caucus (MMC), Civic Results is launching its first Mayors Leadership Academy, beginning Aug. 8. This in-person program, held in varying locations around the metro Denver area and the state of Colorado, will offer full-day sessions monthly from August to March that are focused on building skills, networks, and relationships.

Colorado Governors Tourism Conference

Sept. 25-27 in Mt. Crested Butte | Register here. This is the state's premier travel industry event, bringing together hundreds of tourism leaders and partners for three days of insightful programming, educational sessions and valuable networking opportunities.

Economic Development Council of Colorado | Drive, Lead, Succeed Conference

Oct. 13 – 16 | Beaver Creek, CO | Details here. EDCC’s Annual Drive | Lead | Succeed Conferences aim to provide the knowledge, tools, and connections that are vital to foster a growing Colorado economy, gather the industry’s top influencers and thought leaders together to share knowledge and answer questions that no one else can, offer new and vital tools and solutions to pressing economic issues facing Colorado’s professional economic development community.

State Demography Office Annual Meeting

Nov. 1 at the Arvada Center - save the date!

Small Business Development Center

Full events and workshops calendar including webinars can be found HERE.

Funding & Technical Assistance

NWCCOG Regional Grants Navigator

NWCCOG has a Regional Grants Navigator on staff to assist with identifying appropriate grant opportunities, reviewing grants prior to submission, or helping to gather letters of support. Feel free to reach out to him for assistance: Jonathan Godes, NWCCOG Regional Grants Navigator - jgodes@nwccog.org.

Federal Opportunities

USDA & EDA Joint Guide to Boost Economic Development in Rural Communities

Read the Guide Here. The Stronger Together: Federal funding and planning opportunities designed to promote sustainable economic development in rural America guide has been updated to provide a handy summary of EDA and USDA Rural Development programs that can be used to support common rural development strategies.

State Opportunities

2025 Drinking Water & Wastewater State Revolving Fund Eligibility Survey

Deadline: June 30 | Complete the survey here. Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. The survey identifies water, sewer, stormwater, and nonpoint source infrastructure improvement needs throughout the state. Completing the survey is the first step toward obtaining funding through SRF programs. CDPHE encourages all municipalities to participate. Surveys

must be completed and submitted no later than June 30. 

Colorado Energy Office: Grants, Incentives, and Programs

The Colorado Energy Office (CEO) offers a number of grants, incentives, and programming for Colorado municipal governments. Whether you’re looking to support safe and resilient building codes, streamline solar permitting processes, or bring more electric vehicle charging stations to your community, CEO has a program to support you. Current Opportunities:

• Fleet-Zero Grants - deadline: June 21
• Geothermal Electricity Tax Credit - deadline: June 30

Middle-Income Housing Authority (MIHA) Applications

Applications accepted on a rolling basis | Details here. MIHA is a special purpose authority that is independent from the state, and OEDIT assists with administrative needs. MIHA has the power to issue bonds to finance affordable rental housing projects with AMIs generally between 80% and 120%, or 140% in rural resort areas. MIHA reopened for applications on March 8, 2024 and is currently accepting applications on a rolling basis.

CHFA Direct Effect Awards

Round 2: Open August 19 and closes Sept. 17 | Details here. CHFA is pleased to announce the dates for its 2024 Direct Effect Awards. Direct Effect Awards are an opportunity for CHFA to recognize and support Colorado nonprofits whose missions align with our work to strengthen Colorado by investing in affordable housing and community development. In 2024, CHFA is celebrating 50 years of strengthening Colorado. To help commemorate, CHFA will additionally award up to five $50,000 Direct Effect Awards in each round of 2024. 

Resources

IRS Resources for Small Businesses & Self-Employed

The IRS is encouraging small businesses and self-employed taxpayers to bookmark its Small Business and Self-Employed Tax Center (https://bit.ly/3UEConh). This corner of the IRS’s website provides resources for businesses with assets of less than $10 million and taxpayers who file Form 1040 or 1040-SR, Schedules C, E, F or Form 2106. Resources include relevant publications as well as information on such topics as business tax credits, deducting expenses, Affordable Care Act responsibilities, changing your address and standard mileage rates. It also links to checklists for stages of a business’s life, including what you need to do when starting and closing a business.

Webinars for small businesses from SBA

Info here. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and Small Business Majority are launching a new six-part webinar series targeted for small businesses in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. This partnership will generate small business resources on the most pressing issues for small business owners. All webinars can be found HERE. They are on the following topics:

• Federal opportunities to grow your workforce (June 6)
• Apprenticeships: How to build your talent pipeline (July 24)
• Cybersecurity: AI, Phishing Scams and Hacks! (September 19)
• Cybersecurity: Requirements for government procurement (October 15)
• Capital access for rural small businesses (on demand)
• Small business resources to tackle childcare (on demand)