To try and aid the “most vulnerable communities” in Denver, the city is launching the Priority Neighborhood Small Business Fund, a grant program meant to support micro and small businesses in “priority” neighborhoods.  

These neighborhoods, selected through the Denver Economic Development and Opportunity’s division of the Neighborhood Equity and Stabilization, include East Colfax, Elyria-Swansea, Globeville, Montbello, Northeast Park Hill, Sun Valley, Valverde, Villa Park, West Colfax and Westwood. These communities have been identified as some of the city’s “most under-represented communities to experience rapid socio-economic changes and are the most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.” 

“Small businesses are a big part of the heart and soul of Denver’s neighborhoods,” said Eric Hiraga, executive director of DEDO. “We …want to ensure that they have access to the resources they need to help them survive through this pandemic.”

This fund will be an extension of DEDO’s Small Business Emergency Relief Fund, which has, to date, distributed $7 million to nearly 1,100 small businesses, according to a recent release. 

“We know that people are hurting, that they are struggling, and we are here to help with the best of our abilities,” said Leesly Leon, a marketing and communications administrator with DEDO. “We want to help.”  

To be eligible for the program, a business must have a 2019 annual revenue of $2 million or below, have no more than 25 employees, have experienced at least a 25% decline in revenue this year due to COVID-19, be registered with the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office with a certificate of Good Standing or Fact of Trade Name and have not received COVID-19-related funding from the City and County of Denver.

“We have been talking to the business community and we know the impacts,” said Carla Castedo Ribero, the director of economic mobility at DEDO. “Our job is to make sure we are making this process as accessible as possible.”

Castedo Ribero added that their main focus is addressing those businesses who have had to operate at a reduced capacity due to public health requirements. Other prioritization characteristics that are being considered include percentage of revenue decline, number of employees, businesses that have an annual revenue of $250,000 or less and rent instability. 

Funding for the program will be provided from the city’s allocation of federal COVID-19 money under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.  

This planned funding comes months after some members of the community were denied the first round of relief funds. 

The Colorado Independent reported in late April that members of the East Colfax Community Collective began a relief fund for small businesses that had shut down or faced financial difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these businesses, the Independent reported, are owned by women, immigrants and refugees. 

“We saw a humongous gap in equity and access to the first round of funding, both at the city and the federal levels,” said Brendan Greene, co-founder of the ECCC. “A large majority of the businesses that were trying to navigate these programs were not getting through and not getting funding.” 

To date the fund created by the ECCC has raised $38,000, and $29,000 of that has already been distributed to East Colfax businesses in the form of $1,000 grants. 

Phase 1 of PNSBF funding will distribute $1 million to around 125 micro and small business through a one-time grant assistance up to a maximum of $7,500 per grantee to eligible businesses in the 10 identified neighborhoods. 

Greene said that while the ECCC and small businesses would have loved to see a program targeted at small and micro businesses earlier on, because many small businesses struggled against larger organizations with more power and access, this fund is a positive move in the right direction.

“I think if we are serious about stopping displacement and gentrification in our communities, all city programs must be created with equity at the center of how resources are allocated,” Greene said. “The Priority Neighborhood Small Business Fund is a step in the right direction in recognizing that neighborhoods at risk of displacement need dedicated programs that give them preferential access to city funding to offset historic inequities to access and resources.”

The funding has been approved for phase 2 of this project, but much of the final plan for this phase will come after phase 1 has been complete and DEDO sees how that plays out.  

“We are flying the plane a little bit as we build it,” Castedo Ribero said. “Much of that phase 2 is going to depend on how businesses respond in these specific neighborhoods.” 

“It is an extra step that we are taking as a city,” Leon said. “If we are talking about being equitable, diverse and inclusive, we have to demonstrate it.”

Greene said that a big aspect going forward in this program is addressing how eligible businesses even access the application.

“The more streamlined we can make the application the better,” Greene said. “It has taken our organization and the businesses of East Colfax corridor two or three rounds just to figure out how to get through the process and really give people the best shot at getting the funding. As much as they can front load that technical assistance before the program’s launch the better.”

Greene noted that beyond these programs, small businesses like the ones in East Colfax need “aggressive programs coming from the city,” such as ones to help businesses with property taxes, adding “no business should be getting put out by rising property taxes.” 

He also said that for this program and ones to come, he thinks that organizations like the ECCC should be brought in to help construct how programs will function.

“We understand the city is doing everything it can and doing an amazing job getting resources out into the neighborhoods,” Greene said. “But use the relationships and the partnerships that you have to help guide this so we can identify the opportunities for better directive funding streams at the front end of these programs rather than at the back.”

Opening day, DEDO received 15 interest forms from different businesses. Applications for the program are open from Aug. 10 through Sept. 11, and awards are expected to be announced the week of Sept. 28.