To assist businesses that have had to close or had their services limited, Region 9 Economic Development District of Southwest Colorado (Region 9) was approved for an emergency Enterprise Zone Project.  Any donation of $100 or more is eligible for a 25% State Tax Credit.  Donations will be put towards a Business Support Fund, helping businesses cover immediate needs from rent, payroll, insurance, utilities and with grants and low interest loans while their doors are closed. This EZ Project will help fill gaps from other State and Federal programs that businesses might be eligible for.

“Being able to respond to the emergency needs of regional businesses to help them navigate the COVID-19 crisis will result in less permanent job loss and economic impact in our rural communities”, said Laura Lewis Marchino, Region 9 executive director. “Our region had 56,119 jobs in 2018 (latest data available) and with the mandated closures, we know jobs will decline and we want to keep job losses as low as possible.”

In order not to duplicate community fundraising efforts, Region 9 will collaborate closely with the Community Foundation Serving SW Colorado and the EZ Project will be promoted primarily on the SWCODA (Southwest Colorado Disaster Assistance) webpage https://swcoda.org/ and Region 9’s website www.scan.org.

This partnership allows Region 9 to utilize an established system for collection. Anything donated to the Business Support Fund will come directly to Region 9 from the Community Foundation. Region 9 will process the donor tax credits and distribute funds to businesses.

The focus of this fund will be on businesses that were forced to close on short notice; the anticipated ability to survive and re-open in 60-90 days; a positive track record and ability to leverage this funding with other sources like other banks, Region 9 loan funds, or other programs. Money distributed to these businesses will be directly disbursed to the community in which the donation was received.

Currently 32 projects are designated in Southwest Colorado. A list of eligible Enterprise Zone projects and program information is available online at www.scan.org or by emailing terry@scan.org.