The Opportunity Zone Technical Support Grant provides up to $10,000 to help communities develop opportunity zone projects.
You can use the grant for:
- project feasibility studies
- developing a project request for proposal
- developing an investment memorandum or marketing materials
- legal or accounting support on project structure
The Colorado Opportunity Zone Program encourages long-term private investments by giving investors tax incentives for investing in real estate projects in designated low-income communities. Investors receive tax incentives in the form of deferrals, reductions, and possible elimination of certain federal capital gains taxes.
For communities to attract capital to projects that the community wants and will benefit the residents, stakeholders need to build prospectuses, structure deals, and work to engage investors.
We expect most Opportunity Zone Technical Assistance Grant applications to be less than $10,000, although communities can ask for any amount. If you are requesting less than $2,000, please apply for an Opportunity Zone Mini Grant.
Overview
Type: Grant
For: Communities and economic development organizations
Amount: $2,000 to $10,000 per community
Application deadline: September 30, 2022
OEDIT division: Business Funding and Incentives
If your community is still in the planning phase, you should first review grants from the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) before applying to this grant. If your community does not qualify for DOLA funding, you can apply for the Opportunity Zone Technical Support Grant.
Make sure you do not qualify for these DOLA grants:
- energy-impacted communities: DOLA’s Energy Impact Assistance Fund Grant
- rural communities: DOLA’s Rural Economic Development Initiative Grant
Your community can only apply for either the Opportunity Zone Mini Grant or the Opportunity Zone Technical Support Grant. Communities wanting to request over $2,000 should apply for the Opportunity Zone Technical Support Grant. Communities wanting to request $2,000 or under should apply for the Opportunity Zone Mini Grant.
Eligible organizations
Your local economic development organization (or equivalent, such as chamber of commerce or municipality) needs to submit your application. Nonprofit organizations may apply if they have a letter of support from the local economic development organization.
Eligible projects
Projects can be private or publicly funded and/or organized. Projects need to:
- be in a designated opportunity zone
- have broad community support
- be reasonably well-conceived by the time of application
- be funded by opportunity fund capital
Generally, grant requests need to have a funding ratio of 1-to-3 non-state funding to state funding. For example, if you request a grant of $9,000, you need to find $3,000 in cash from other sources. Any entity can provide matching funds. The Opportunity Zone Steering Committee may waive this requirement if the applicant is unable to match funds.
The Opportunity Zone Technical Support Grant application is open and operates on a rolling deadline, meaning we will review applications as we receive them.
Apply online through the OEDIT application portal. Log in or create a new account. New users are manually added to the portal for security reasons, so it may take several days to activate your account.
Application materials
Answer these questions in narrative form (maximum 5,000 characters per question):
- describe the project that you are seeking funding for
- describe how much funding you are seeking and what the funding will be used for
- describe how this project aligns with your economic development goals, and how the initiative will help you achieve these goals
- describe how this project relates to opportunity zones and the role that opportunity zone capital will play
- share the names and biographies of the main project leaders (including engagement with other similar projects), and describe the role they will play in the project
- demonstrate broad community support for this project by sharing a list of individuals and organizations who support this effort, and include at least two letters of support
- explain why your project needs this grant funding (as opposed to other sources of funding) and include examples of other funding sources you have have already considered
- describe who will provide matching funds, if the community is able to meet the matching requirement, or explain why you need a waiver from the match
- certify that you are willing to provide brief, quarterly progress reports and complete short surveys about the project for two years
This is a competitive program. Not all eligible applications will be funded. The Opportunity Zone Steering Committee awards grants on an as-needed basis and reviews and scores applications each month.
The committee scores applications on:
- alignment with economic development goals
- potential for impact
- feasibility of project
- evidence of community and regional support
- financial need
- overall strength of the application
If you submit your application by the last business day of a calendar month, we will notify you by the following month about funding decisions.
If you win the grant, you need to complete surveys and submit quarterly reports for two years.
Program Manager
