DENVER - Governor Polis today announced that the state will be allocating $6M to the Energize Gap Fund. The second round of applications just opened this week and it will be supporting even more Colorado businesses. The deadline to apply is October 26th.
“The fund is a bold, ambitious proposal that truly represents a holistic effort by both Democrats and Republicans in the state legislature and beyond coming together and putting differences aside to provide much-needed relief to small businesses and nonprofits across the state that are reeling from the pandemic,” said Governor Polis.
The Fund will provide more than $31 million in loans and grants. They will be specifically targeted towards businesses and nonprofits that have been hardest hit by the statewide shutdown and that have limited access or no access altogether to other means of financing through federal, state, or local programs.
The Gap Fund is designed to meet this pressing need. It provides up to $15,000 in grant funds and up to $20,000 in low-interest loans to entities with fewer than 25 full-time employees. This represents a possible combined total of $35,000 in total relief.
In the first round we saw 6,000 applications submitted, requesting $79 million in grants and $56 million in loans. More than 50 percent of applicants were from women-owned entities, more than a quarter were rural entities, 12 percent were from Latino-owned enterprises, and 10 percent were from black-owned enterprises.
SB20-222 was sponsored by Sen. Faith Winter, Sen. Jeff Bridges, Rep. Mary Young, and Rep. Perry Will. To apply for Energize Colorado visit https://energizecolorado.com/