Governor Polis Signs Rural Jump-Start Bill

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 29, 2024

Contact: Jason Friday
703.609.6695
jason@barueat.com

Governor Polis Signs Rural Jump-Start Bill

Colorado Governor Jared Polis renewed the Rural Jumpstart Program with a signing ceremony at the BAR-U-EAT factory in Hayden, CO.

Hayden, CO — The Rural Jump-Start Program was first created in 2016 to incentivize new businesses to start in or move to rural, economically distressed counties in Colorado. The goal of this program is to diversify and strengthen rural economies and provide job opportunities to the local workforce. It first started as a tax incentive program and in 2021, was further expanded to include a grant program. 

Today, the Governor of Colorado, Jared Polis accompanied by Senator Dylan Roberts and Representative Meghan Lukens reauthorized the program with a bill signing ceremony at the BAR-U-EAT factory in Hayden, CO, located 20 miles West of Steamboat Springs. The grant program was set to terminate July 1, 2024 and has been renewed for another year. The tax incentive program was set to expire in January 2026 and has been expanded until January of 2031. 

The bill changes the total allowable administrative cost of the grant program from $100,000 per fiscal year to $300,000 total for the sum of all fiscal years that the grant program is in effect. The bill appropriates $873,304 to the office of the governor for use by these economic development programs.

The town of Hayden is home to one of the state’s largest coal fired power plants which employs much of the local workforce. With the powerplant and mines set to close operations in 2028, BAR-U-EAT saw this as an opportunity to relocate their business to the small town and work towards filling this future employment gap. The Town of Hayden and the State of Colorado agreed and approved them for the Rural Jump-Start Program in 2022 to help them successfully set up operations.

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If you would like more information on BAR-U-EAT and their products, please contact Jason Friday at 703.609.6695 or email jason@barueat.com