Rural Jump-Start Program

About this programme

The Rural Jump-Start Program is a joint effort by the state, local governments, colleges, and economic development organizations to get new businesses to start or move into rural, economically distressed Colorado counties, called Rural Jump-Start zones, and hire locally. It started as a tax incentive in 2016; a grant component was added in 2021.

The program exists to bring jobs and tax base into counties that qualify as economically distressed under specific population and income tests. A new business commits to a hiring plan tied to the size of the county, and in exchange gets a package of tax relief plus, since 2021, a matching operating grant.

Tax benefits include 100% relief of state income tax for the new business (as a tax credit certificate), 100% refund of state sales and use tax, 100% relief of county personal property tax (as an incentive payment, exemption, or refund), 100% relief of municipal personal property tax in participating municipalities, and 100% relief of state income tax for qualified new hires.

The grant side is separate money: a business in a Rural Jump-Start zone can get a matching grant up to $15,000; in a Tier 1 Just Transition community (counties moving away from coal-dependent economies) that rises to $25,000. As of January 2025, the Colorado Economic Development Commission approved $630,000 in continued grant funding, running through June 30, 2028 or until it's used up.

How it works

The state will accept applications for tax benefits through December 31, 2030 and for grant benefits through June 30, 2028.

Operating grants match a business's eligible operating expenses (rent or mortgage, equipment, salaries, marketing, utility bills, and similar reasonable costs) on a 3:1 basis, or 25%, with a minimum reimbursement of $5,000. For example, spending $20,000 on business supplies would draw a $5,000 match. The program only matches expenses incurred on or after the Economic Development Commission approves the business into the program; it cannot reimburse anything from before that date.

A new business must submit its first reimbursement invoice within 18 months of EDC approval or the grant funds are recaptured. The last $5,000 of a grant award is only released after the business has created and kept a New Hire job for at least one year. There is a cap of 3 new grant awards per county, to be re-evaluated in January 2027. The separate New Hire grant has been discontinued.

New hires must meet program rules to count: earn at least the county's average annual wage or higher, receive a W-2, be legally allowed to work in the US, be a Colorado resident, stay employed at least six months, work full time (at least 35 hours a week), and spend at least 80% of non-travel time inside the Rural Jump-Start zone (they do not have to live there). Qualified new hires get 100% reimbursement of their state income tax.

Hiring requirements scale by county population and by year in the program. In a county under 100,000 people: 0 new hires in the partial first year, 1 by the end of the first full year, 2 by the second, and 3 by the third full year and every year after. In a county over 100,000 people, the third-year-and-beyond requirement rises to 5 new hires.

A business receiving Rural Jump-Start benefits cannot also claim the Job Growth Tax Incentive Credit or Enterprise Zone New Employee Credits for the same new business or new hires, though it can still use programs that do not incentivize establishing a new business, such as the Enterprise Zone Investment Tax Credit, the Historic Preservation Tax Credit, or the Advanced Industry Accelerator Grant.

Who can apply

The business must not yet be operating (selling a product or service) in Colorado when it applies, though it may already be planning, fundraising, recruiting, doing market research, prototyping, filing formation paperwork, or manufacturing and testing a proof of concept, even with some associated revenue.

It must locate in a designated Rural Jump-Start zone and cannot directly compete with the core function of an existing business already operating in that county or an adjacent, economically distressed county. For example, a coffee shop would not qualify if one already exists in that county or a neighboring distressed county.

It must export goods or services outside the county, bringing income in from outside, and cannot be a sole proprietorship. It must form a relationship with a program Sponsoring Entity, an approved economic development organization or designated college, to align on mission and community benefit, and must stick to the business plan filed in its application.

It must plan to hire at least three to five new employees, on the timeline described above, by the third full year in the program.

How to apply

1. Contact the Sponsoring Entity assigned to your Rural Jump-Start zone for a pre-application meeting to check that your business meets the program's requirements.
2. Work with the Sponsoring Entity to draft a Memorandum of Understanding describing the relationship.
3. Get access to the application in the OEDIT Salesforce portal (Rural Jump-Start staff grant access; new accounts are added manually for security, so activation can take several days).
4. Complete the application in Salesforce with the Sponsoring Entity, including a letter of support from the Sponsoring Entity confirming it reviewed and supports the application.
5. Submit required documents: a business plan (covering customers and competitors, how the business adds to the local economic base, and how it will export goods or services outside the county), a three-year pro forma income statement, income statements and balance sheets for the last three years if applicable, a five-year employee and new-hire forecast, and the percentage of sales in Colorado, outside Colorado, and outside the US.
6. Rural Jump-Start staff review the application and run a competitive analysis in the applicant's county and adjacent distressed counties; during a one-month window an existing local business can challenge the application if it believes the new business would compete directly.
7. Applications that pass review go to the Colorado Economic Development Commission, which meets on the third Thursday of each month, for final approval. The whole process typically takes 6 to 8 weeks from submission to Commission review.

Documents you’ll typically need

• Business plan, including customer and competitor description, economic contribution, and export plan
• Pro forma income statement for the next three years
• Income statements and balance sheets for the last three years, if applicable
• Total employee and new-hire forecast for the next five years
• Percentage of sales breakdown (in-state, out-of-state, international)
• Letter of support from the Sponsoring Entity

Frequently asked

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Reviewed 2026-09-25. Programmes change, so check eligibility, amounts and deadlines on the official page before you apply. CapEasy is a private firm and is not part of any government body.