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DENVER, CO - Representative Meghan Lukens today released the following statements on Governor Jared Polis and the Office of Economic Development & International Trade’s announcement of two new Coal Transition Community grants:
Statement from Representative Meghan Lukens, D-Steamboat Springs:
“I’m excited to hear that Rangely has received $500,000 in grant money to support small business owners and create good-paying jobs in our community. From marketing training to local pitch competitions, this grant money will help give small business owners the tools to build on their successes and diversify jobs in rural Colorado as we transition from the fossil fuel industry. This is a big win for Rangely and I can’t wait to see the impact this grant money will have on our community.”
The Town of Rangely was awarded a $500,000 grant to fund the Retain, Attract, Rebuild, Expand (RARE) business support program for three years. The RARE program was created to facilitate sustainability and expansion of existing business and job growth, including building entrepreneurship in the local community as they transition away from the coal industry.
With this grant money, RARE will provide business, financial, and marketing training for local entrepreneurs and existing businesses in partnership with the Colorado Northwestern Community College (CNCC) and the Northwest Small Business Development Center (SBDC). The program will also offer an annual small business grant program, with grants of up to $40,000 available per awarded business, and an annual pitch competition, both for the next three years.
The Town of Rangely anticipates that the RARE program will create a minimum of 15 full-time jobs, with at least five of those jobs meeting or exceeding the average annual wage for Rio Blanco County.
In 2021, Rangely businesses were awarded over $55,000 from the Main Street Open for Business Grant. A 2024 report found that the grant program helped increase sales by an average of 25.4 percent and increase jobs by over 20 percent.
Rep. Lukens passed legislation making the design and use of mountain passenger rail more sustainable by incentivizing the transportation of freight from companies that establish operations in coal transition communities along the potential rail line. The law incentivizes businesses and operators to utilize freight lines that are at risk of inactivity due to declining usage as a result of the transition away from coal.
More information on Just Transition Community Funding can be found here.