To celebrate another successful legislative session, we are pleased to highlight the bills that will support our office’s programs and introduce new initiatives that work towards our mission of empowering all to thrive in Colorado’s Economy.
This year, we want to take a closer look at six bills from the 2024 legislative session that encourage dynamic economic development and sustainable job growth. These featured bills aim to accomplish impressive feats such as revitalizing buildings to better serve their communities, connecting Colorado’s workforce to good-paying jobs, and investing in Colorado tech hubs advancing the technologies of tomorrow. These six highlights include:
Enriching Communities by Transforming Local Buildings and Community Spaces
Colorado is unique in its inclusion of the arts as an economic development tool. Communities can creatively distinguish themselves by integrating arts, culture, and design in their placemaking. HB24-1295 extends the Community Revitalization Program which supports creative sector capital projects including studio, performance, and arts education spaces while incorporating affordable housing, childcare, retail, and other community spaces. The program was established in 2021 as a grant program which has helped create over 598 housing units, including over 500 workforce, affordable and low-income housing units. The program will now function under a tax credit structure with $10 million in revenue reduction a year for five years and will extend the program’s impact.
The Commercial Historic Preservation Tax Credit, which is jointly administered by History Colorado and OEDIT, will be expanded by HB24-1314. The bill supports the development of new housing in Colorado by creating a new pool of $5 million a year for projects that are converting 50% of historic properties to new residential rental units. The Historic Preservation Tax Credit allows entities to utilize aged and vacant buildings from the past to better serve their communities and has rehabilitated over 200 buildings since the program’s modification in 2016. Take a look at the program’s previous accomplishments in this impact story.
Strengthening Colorado’s Workforce by Creating and Retaining Jobs
Opportunity Now is an $85 million grant program that catalyzes regional industry and education collaboration to unlock economic mobility for Coloradoans. From nearly 700 applications across two rounds of funding, 89 grant recipients are now projected to serve 20,000 Coloradans in the next 1-3 years in high priority industries, including education, healthcare, construction and the advanced industries. Now, with the HB24-1365, we have the opportunity to continue this great work with an additional $3.8 million in one-time general funding. This allows us to further respond to regional talent needs with a three-pronged approach: 1) prioritize grant applications that address workforce shortages in the infrastructure and building trades, 2) launch regional summits to create alignment between business, education, workforce and community partners to develop a comprehensive tactical regional workforce plan and 3) introduce a refundable tax credit for facility improvement and equipment acquisition associated with training programs to alleviate workers shortages.
The Employee Ownership (EO) Office, housed within the Business Support division of OEDIT, also supports the state’s workforce. The office provides resources for Colorado businesses to convert to employee ownership, which benefits businesses by creating a more engaged workforce, a guaranteed succession plan, and a way to attract and retain top talent. The newly passed bill, HB24-1157, will codify the EO office and establish a new annual $1.5 million tax credit program that specifically supports Colorado businesses that are in their first seven years of employee ownership. Available for income tax years 2025 to 2029, qualifying businesses can apply on a year-to-year basis to receive up to $50,000 in tax credits annually. This tax credit complements the existing employee ownership tax credit, which supports business owners who sell their business to their employees.
Since 2016, the Rural Jump-Start (RJS) tax incentive program has helped incentivize new businesses to start in or move to rural, economically distressed counties in Colorado, which are referred to as Rural Jump-Start zones, and hire new employees. Starting in 2021, a grant program was created for businesses located in these zones. The new bill, HB24-1001, extends the RJS tax credit program by five-years and the grant program by one-year. The bill also provides modifications to the eligibility criteria for the grant program to ensure improved access for smaller rural communities and greater utilization for larger rural communities.
A Quantum Future Today
In 2023, the federal government designated Colorado as a tech hub focused on the development of quantum technology. Now the tech hub, called Elevate Quantum, has the opportunity to pursue federal funding. To support that quest and the industry’s growth, the state legislature and the Governor passed HB24-1325. This bill includes two main mechanisms. The first involves $44 million in refundable tax credits to support the creation of a collaborative quantum technology laboratory space where small- and medium-sized quantum businesses can conduct research. The second mechanism includes $30 million in refundable tax credits to foster greater access to capital for small- and medium-sized quantum businesses through a loan loss reserve strategy. This bill reflects Colorado’s commitment to investing in the state’s Quantum efforts, which will develop key new technologies and create good-paying jobs for Coloradans.