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DENVER -- Colorado Creative Industries, a division of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT), announced today that 14 grantees have been awarded $217,000 in American Rescue Plan funding through Cycle B of the Colorado Creative Corps ARP grant. This funding initiative is supported through Colorado’s partnership agreement with the National Endowment for the Arts. 

The Colorado Creative Corps ARP Grant provides funds to individual artists for specific, definable projects that connect artists and organizations to local initiatives. Funded by the American Rescue Plan (ARP), a total of $500,000 is dedicated to supporting employment opportunities for artists impacted by COVID-19 through this funding by building new structures and partnerships that will help to sustain Colorado’s creative sector. The awardees for round two are as follows: 

Jennifer Dempsey, $15,000 - Chaffee County: For "White Bear Woman," an original one-woman theater-in-education production that tells the story of 23 year old Lori Piestewa, the first Native American woman to lose her life as a member of the US military.

Andre Carbonell, $12,000 - Denver County: For the creation of the "Slam Nuba" artist residency, which will provide 6-week residencies to literary performance artists who identify as Black, Indigenous, or persons of color.

Brian Corrigan, $20,000 - Denver County: For the "Farm-To-Spaceship x San Luis Experience Accelerator," which seeks to address community and economic development in San Luis, Colorado’s “Oldest Town,” by activating the community to co-design creative placemaking activities that both enhance the public realm and create experiential offerings for visitors and locals.

Victor Ngo-Smith, $18,000 - Denver County: For the "Refuge Arts" program, which offers immigrant and refugee women and girls, and queer minority youth free weekly group music and art experiences, including community choir, orchestra, drum line, world percussion ensemble, visual art and mural design.

Gregg Ziemba, $18,000 - Denver County: For the creation of a visual album of the "Alice in Wonderland" (All is Wonder) soundtrack written, recorded, produced, and released by the Denver band Wheelchair Sports Camp.

Bernadette Salem, $15,000 - Gunnison County: For the creation and subsequent screening at the "Peace Museum CO," (Gunnison) of a four-part Navajo language documentary series centered around the Navajo musical ceremonies that accompany each of the four seasons.

Yul Jorgensen, $18,000 - Huerfano County: For the creation of murals and programming, including community art workshops and public events, for the second annual FAROUT Mural program in Walsenburg.

Emilie Odeile, $23,000 - Huerfano County: For "FROG: A Fiber Situation," a multi-sensory fiber art exhibition and Lifelong Colorado webinar series that educates and informs municipal leaders across the state on the benefits of pursuing and achieving age-friendly designation. 

James Bruenger-Arreguin, $12,000 - Jefferson County: For “Coyota in the Kitchen,” a new one-woman theater piece created by Colorado director James Bruenger-Arreguin and Colorado writer Jessica Kahkoska, produced in partnership with the the Colorado Fine Arts Center at Colorado College and adapted from Anita Rodriguez’ award-winning book of the same name.

Tony Diego, $17,000 - Jefferson County: For a community-based art exhibit led by "Los Fantasmas" artist collective in collaboration with the State Office of Juvenile Diversion, GRASP (Gang Rescue and Support Project), and Colorado Circles for Change, which will engage students and families that identify as Chicano, Indigenous, Native or Raza.

Amelia Furman, $4,000 - Larimer County: For “Uniquely Us: Identity in Community," a collaborative project supporting art exploration and expression for young adults in the disability community in Larimer and Weld counties by providing art workshops and the creation of collaborative artwork. 

Chelsea Gilmore, $21,000 - Larimer County: For the creation of community developed sculptural installations in vacant storefronts along the Pawnee Pioneer Scenic and Historic Byway in Morgan County, as well as the installation of a mural at the end of the byway in Fort Morgan.

Will Campbell, $18,000 - Mesa County: For a film and mural project that will highlight the efforts of high school age students in Grand Junction who are working collaboratively on suicide prevention and postvention advocacy.

Briana Harris, $6,000 - Weld County: For the "Bands Give Back" program, which is organized by the band "The Burroughs," and will pair professional musicians and bands with high school music programs in Greeley-Evans School District 6 to deliver guest artist workshops.

The awardees for round 1 can be found here. 

Colorado’s largest and fastest-growing creative industries, including music, theater, dance, and visual arts, have been among the hardest hit by the impacts of COVID-19. Estimates are that between April and July 2020, creative industries as a whole lost 59,600 jobs and $2.6 billion. The estimated losses contracted the region’s creative economy by 31% in terms of employment and 8% in annual sales revenue. 

Margaret Hunt, Director of Colorado Creative Industries, says, “Colorado’s arts, culture and entertainment industries play a critical role in our economy and are essential to our recovery and resiliency. These projects build community and foster an important sense of belonging. The Creative Corps ARP program offers direct funding to individuals, helping to ensure a strong recovery for the arts in Colorado.”

Arts, culture and entertainment play a key role in Colorado’s economy with higher than average industry growth in all regions of the state from 2010-2019. Creative Industries generated $31.6 billion in sales of goods and services in 2019. This figure represents 4% of all goods and services sold within the state, more than mining or transportation. 

With over 100 locations across Colorado, Arizona, and California, many individuals are already familiar with FirstBank, or 1STBank, as a banking and financial services company. What some customers may not know, however, is that this privately held company has been employee-owned since they were established in 1963.

In our interview with Shannon Jones, President of Human Resources at FirstBank, she offered key insights into their nearly 60 year employee ownership journey. For the first several years, FirstBank offered employees participation through a profit sharing plan. Not long after, the company then transitioned to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) in 1976, which is still going strong to this day.

FirstBank founders recognized the day-to-day and long term impact being employee-owned would bring. From bank tellers to presidents, all have an investment in the success of the company and actively consider how their decisions affect “their ESOP.” This mindset ultimately encourages their employees to be especially thoughtful about how they approach their roles.

“The investment and the buy-in that you get from your employees is just amazing. They truly care and it really affects their decision making,” says Jones. “Our ESOP is one of the reasons they stick around. It’s really important to them.”

Jones and FirstBank recognize that being employee-owned gives them a unique competitive edge when it comes to recruitment and retention. While helping employees build a career, they also help them create sustainable future wealth.

It may come as no surprise that by being a financial services company, FirstBank recognized the importance of diversifying their employees’ saving options. In addition to their ESOP, FirstBank began offering a 401k in the early 2000’s. Knowing that having choices is essential for employees, the company took it one step further by contributing to their employees’ retirement plans, even if the employees do not do so themselves.

“Take home pay isn’t what it’s all about. When you look at the total rewards and total package, their retirement is important... if you can do something to help them build their wealth, that’s important.”

When asked why businesses should consider being employee-owned, Jones shared some impressive statistics. At FirstBank, 46% of their employees have been around for at least 6 years and 30% for over 11 years. An employee survey revealed that 85% of employees found their retirement plan to be the most important benefit to them. And finally, out of all employees, a whopping 93% actively allocate a portion of their income to the ESOP and/or 401k.

Outside of saving for the future, FirstBank has seen active participation among employees when they embrace an ownership mindset. Over the years, the bank has made transparency and communication a priority across all levels of the company. They constantly share important results and strategies that affect the business, income, and profit. 

Recently, they even brought in employees from across the company to help decide on key strategies for FirstBanks’ three year plan. Now more levels of the company are represented and involved in determining impactful decisions. “It’s just really cool and unique to have someone not at the C-level give input on what the next three years of the company will look like,” says Jones.

Jones attributes FirstBank’s ability to keep employees’ needs at the forefront to making it a point to really listen to them, be flexible, and pivot as necessary. Learn more about their journey by watching the video interview below.

In Colorado, there are a variety of employee-ownership structures to choose from. To discover the different employee-ownership options and how they can work for your business, visit our Intro to Employee Ownership Toolkit. For current Colorado-headquartered businesses actively converting to an Employee Ownership Trust, a Worker-Owned Cooperative, or a Employee Stock Ownership Plan, consider applying for our Employee Ownership Tax Credit to cover up to 50% conversion costs on a qualified business’ state income taxes.

DENVER -- The Colorado Employee Ownership Office, a division of Colorado’s Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT), announces four employee ownership conversions from round three of the Employee Ownership Grant.

The Employe Ownership Grant launched in 2021 to provide Colorado-headquartered small businesses with funding to reimburse professional technical service expenses incurred when transitioning to employee ownership. Businesses that applied for this program and successfully converted to an employee ownership structure offering at least 20% of the company’s equity to employees received a $3,000 grant to cover conversion expenses, including accounting, legal, business valuation and other technical services.

In January, four businesses that participated in the grant successfully converted to an employee-owned structure:

Davinci Sign Systems, Inc., Windsor (Employee Stock Ownership Plan)
Enduro Bites, Colorado Springs (Direct Stock Grant)
Fancy Tiger Crafts, Denver (Cooperative)
Mile High Audio Video, Englewood (Restricted Stock Plan)

“One barrier that businesses face in converting to employee ownership is transition costs. Our goal is to mitigate this barrier via this program and the new Employee Ownership Tax Credit Program,” said Nikki Maloney, Interim Director of Business Support and Rural Prosperity at OEDIT. “The Employee Ownership Grant program has four cycles in 2022, with each round open to up to 20 converting businesses. Our goal is to make the process more accessible, so more Coloradans can start experiencing the many benefits that come from employee-ownership.”

The Employee Ownership Office is offering four grant rounds in 2022 for businesses to participate in the program. Round two opens for applications on April 4 until May 6, with a successful conversion required by June 17 to be awarded funds. To receive funding, each round requires that businesses complete their transition by the deadline stated on the Employee Ownership Grant webpage.

Businesses in the early stages of conversion are also encouraged to explore the Employee Ownership Tax Credit program, which is available to Colorado-headquartered businesses converting to either an Employee Stock Ownership Plan, Worker Owned Cooperative or Employee Ownership Trust. The program offers tax credits based on the structure type to cover up to 50% of a qualified business’ conversion costs for use on their state income taxes. 

Visit the Colorado Employee Ownership Office’s website to learn more about employee ownership, consulting services, open programs and funding opportunities.

Call for Developers to Partner with the State of Colorado

to Build a Global Energy Business Park Next to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Jan. 19, 2022 - Welcome to the future Global Energy Park, where leaders from around the world will come together to tackle the planet’s most complex and imminent energy issues. Located in the heart of Colorado’s internationally-recognized energy research and innovation ecosystem, right next to the uniquely important U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), this development will be a marquee campus where industry, government, and academia will gather to lead the global transition toward clean, renewable, sustainable, and equitable energy solutions. We invite prospective developers to partner with the State of Colorado and submit proposals in response to the Invitation to Negotiate, located on the ColoradoVSS site. Technical support while using ColoradoVSS is available from the Help Desk at vsshelp@state.co.us or 303.866.6464.

A unique opportunity to construct a globally-recognized campus.

The Global Energy Park (or “Glo Park”) will be an epicenter of collaboration between industry, government, and academia focused on innovation in the future of energy. The flagship facility, adjacent to the world-renowned National Renewable Energy Laboratory, will serve as an initial, high-profile focal point of the Glo Park. 

The highlighted yellow area in this map approximates the conceptual boundaries of the Glo Park. Within the park, in the highlighted green area, is a 9.37 acre green parcel where developers are invited to partner with the State of Colorado in a long-term ground lease to build a “north campus” which would be a suite of buildings housing some of the most prominent companies in the world who are dedicated to the future of energy. 

The campus will be state-of-the-art, using smart, green building technologies to yield a high-performance, sustainable, net-zero facility.  Exterior common areas will support a variety of activities including educational demonstrations, technology installations, and outdoor gathering places that blend with adjacent open spaces. On-site laboratories and immersive computational rooms will enable NREL researchers and partners to conduct joint research and experiments and quickly visualize results using immersive computational rooms. Modular office wings will accommodate a variety of tenant footprints and co-working environments. 

The facility will be a model of adaptability and flexibility, serving as a demonstration site for research breakthroughs to transform the building industry, providing unparalleled access to NREL's unique expertise as well as NREL's advanced equipment, analytical and data-processing abilities. The property will support up to 100 visiting partners who will work closely with NREL research staff and leverage NREL's expansive existing cohort of resident and remote partners.

Stakeholders lower developer risk by attracting tenants

The State has assembled a coalition of stakeholders who are committed to de-risking the project for the developer in helping to identify and recruit a broad and deep tenant mix that seek this unique opportunity to be next to NREL. There is already interest from:

A global power management technology company with 100,000 employees, doing business in more than 100 countries, and creating energy products and services that help customers effectively manage electrical, hydraulic, and mechanical power more reliably, efficiently, safely, and sustainably.
A multinational mining company actively integrating new methods to make its business lines and operations more sustainable by utilizing non-carbon renewable energy.
A U.S Military partner focused on decarbonizing its organizational footprint and creating energy efficient operational models and blueprints for others to follow.
A multi-state utility working to transition the power sector to a 100% carbon-free portfolio of renewable energy sources by 2030, bringing critical technology and infrastructure into communities and the marketplace, and redefining services to support the electrification of transportation and residential offerings for consumers. 
NREL also expects to occupy space in the facility, attracting additional private partners and increasing public-private collaboration outside of its secure facility. NREL has contributed to more than $1 billion in R&D contract value. The Glo Park will provide industry access to NREL research capabilities and facilities, leveraging their existing equipment and unique laboratory assets. Glo Park tenants will not only collaborate with a diverse consortium of industry participants, they will also enjoy access to NREL’s state-of-the-art tools and data, testing and simulation facilities, technologies, and market expertise to advance their business initiatives.

Benefits in developing with the State of Colorado

As the land is owned by the State of Colorado, the chosen developer would enjoy fast-tracked permitting outside of local zoning and codes. In addition, the State and its partners are actively pursuing several grant and philanthropic opportunities that would enhance the viability and opportunity in constructing this facility. The Glo Park was part of the 60 proposals chosen out of over 500 in a Build Back Better grant from the EDA. Acquired funding would be targeted towards the building of and enhancements to common areas and outdoor spaces, including unique laboratory equipment that is desirable to tenants. The State is also open to discussing tax credits and finding other ways to minimize costs, and speed approvals and implementation to increase viability.

Resources for Developers to partner with the State of Colorado

Glo Park promotional video (TBD) 
Doing Business with the State of Colorado
Checklist for design/build projects with the Colorado Office of the State Architect
General procurement and contracting: State Purchasing & Contracts Office
Project Management Policies & Guidelines
Use the ColoradoVSS site to respond to the Invitation to Negotiate (search under ITN # 2022000007) 
Help Desk at vsshelp@state.co.us or 303.866.6464
 
Video: GloPark for Developers

New to state procurement?   View the ITN

To find the ITN at the ColoradoVSS website:

Choose "Public Access" from the left column. A new browser window should open.
In Keyword Search, type in the ITN number: 2022000007
Find the result titled: ITN - Colorado Global Energy Park Public-Private Partnership
Select "Details"
Select "Attachments" tab
 

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Today Boulder County announced the addresses of homes and businesses impacted by the fire. There are resources available to those impacted by the devastating wildfires. Please find below information about how to access behavioral health support and the next steps to take related to insurance and financial assistance. President Biden today approved the Colorado Disaster Declaration making federal funding available to affected individuals in Boulder County.

Numerous resources are available to those impacted by the devastating wildfires across Boulder County. As well, several different sites are accepting donations for those impacted by the fires. The most effective way to support people impacted by the Boulder County fire is to donate money.

(Dec.

- By Kelly Blynn, Transportation Climate Change Specialist, Colorado Energy Office