The Brush! Area Chamber of Commerce Foundation is looking to be a sponsoring entity for businesses that are interested in applying for the Community Business Preservation Program through OEDIT. The Community Business Preservation Program provides grants, as well as training and consultation support, to groups of geographically proximate and culturally similar businesses that are facing displacement pressures and that hold cultural, social, or historical significance in Colorado. Specifically, this program will provide: Grants of $10,000 to $50,000 per business in a selected community. Training and consultation support tailored to each business’ unique needs. This program is intended to help Colorado communities preserve the businesses that make them unique and are important to their residents.

Eligibility Must be a business registered and in good standing with the Colorado Secretary of State. Primary business location must be in the State of Colorado. Must not be a franchise. Must have been fully operational on or prior to September 22, 2021. This can include the restarting or revamping of a business that was in existence prior to September 22, 2021.

Selection Process The sponsoring Entity Review board will consist of: Up to five members of the Brush! Area Chamber of Commerce Foundation Executive Board The Review Committee will evaluate and rank all applications based on the responses to application questions and the review criteria before making a final selection of Businesses for the final sponsored application. Timeline: November 12, 2023 - Business Application to Sponsoring Entity Opens December 4, 2023 - Business Applications to Sponsoring Entity Closes December 4-15, 2023 - Sponsoring Entity Applications Review December 18 -22, 2023 - Sponsoring Selection Announcements January 19, 2024 - OEDIT Application Close for Sponsoring Entities January & February 2024 - Application Review by OEDIT March 2024 - Award Announcements by OEDIT April 2024 - April 2026 - Award Distribution & Funding Period (***funding period may be a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of 2 years, depending on the community) by OEDIT

Each applicant business will be required to propose categories of potential uses and associated cost estimates for the grant funds in the application, and then more defined uses will be agreed upon by the applicant and OEDIT in the award process. Proposed uses should be one-time expenses, not everyday operating expenses (see exception immediately below). Some examples of proposed uses include infrastructure and facade improvements, technology, energy efficiency, or building code upgrades, permitting or licensing fees, and hired contract work. ***In some instances, OEDIT may approve businesses that have recurring expenses or need working capital. In these instances, the award distribution for that business may be delayed until the business completes all or some portion of the required training and consultation support (under the Training & Consultation Support Section) to optimize the business’ long-term viability.

Any expense not considered an eligible expense by IRS rules Wages to any member of the organization's principal officers, board or family who is not a bona fide employee Charitable or pass-through contributions Political contributions and political activities Lobbying activities Draw or salary to employees that exceeded the amount they were paid on a weekly or monthly basis for the same period last year Pay down or pay off debt by more than required in underlying debt instrument. Expenses that were previously paid Alcohol Food (except for official functions) Gifts, donations, or sponsorships Employee bonuses Airfare upgrades Late fees Expenses that are unrelated to your scope of work The CP Review Committee and OEDIT have the discretion to partially fund a request versus disqualifying an application or individual business if an item in an applicant business’ proposed uses is ineligible.

As part of the program, grant recipient business owners will receive consultant support, business development, and wraparound services. The goals of this aspect of the program are to increase the chance of success for the business, while maximizing the positive impact of the grant funding with additional support. The exact technical assistance programming, including the length of the programming, will vary, depending on the needs of the individual businesses and the community as a whole being awarded. At a minimum, the programming could last for six months, and at a maximum it could last for two years. Substantively, the programming will include an initial period of onboarding and goal setting, a period dedicated to structured learning (via group webinars, workshops, meetups, and/or one-on-one consultant sessions); and a wrap-up period for post-program review and analysis. All business participants will work with the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network(opens in new window), which includes a variety of business resources, on the technical assistance programming. Again, depending on the businesses’ individual needs, awardees will be required to meet with SBDC consultants periodically over the course of the programming period both one-on-one and as a group of businesses within their community. Group sessions will be focused on how the community’s businesses can work together to preserve their community’s culture and to foster cross-business collaboration, support, and peer advising, and the individual sessions will cover a variety of tailored topics.

Transparency: The community name, businesses’ names, and grant amounts for communities that are awarded will be made publicly available. Training & Consultation Support: Communities that are awarded funding must participate in the required training and consultation support as described under the Training & Consultation Support section. Tracking of Community Metrics: Communities that are awarded funding must agree to provide information on impact metrics agreed upon by the applicant and OEDIT in the award process both at the beginning of the funding period and at the end of the funding period. Some examples of potential metrics include businesses’ average sales, businesses’ number of clients served, businesses’ employee numbers, visitors to the community, etc. Final Report: Communities that are awarded funding must provide a close-out report to OEDIT including information on their use of grant funds. Use of Funds: During the funding period, if communities that are awarded funding wish to use the funds for a purpose other than what is agreed upon by the applicant and OEDIT in the award process, they must discuss the proposal with OEDIT beforehand. If the communities that are awarded funding use the funds for an ineligible cost or a purpose other than what is described in the application, OEDIT has the discretion to require that the funds be returned to OEDIT.

Brush! Area Chamber of Commerce Foundation MaKyle Mares - Executive Director/Main Street Manager executivedirector@brushchamber.org (970) 842-2666 OEDIT - Office of Economic Development & International Trade Leslie Hylton-Hinga - Special Projects Director leslie.hylton@state.co.us (720) 320-2395

Application Form Español Application Form