Business Incentives

Opportunity Zone

What is an opportunity zone?
San Juan County in its entirety is an Opportunity Zone. Opportunity Zones (OZ) were enacted as part of the 2017 tax reform package (Tax Cuts and Jobs Act) to address uneven economic recovery and persistent lack of growth that have left many communities across the country behind. In the broadest sense, the newly enacted federal OZ program provides a federal tax incentive for investors to invest in low-income urban and rural communities through favorable treatment of reinvested capital gains and forgiveness of tax on new capital gains.

The Opportunity Fund creates an additional incentive to invest in San Juan County by deferring and possibly eliminating the capital gain tax on long-term investments. Investors can transfer unrealized capital gains into Opportunity Funds putting the full value of the capital gain to work. Some investors have a social investment drive – they want their capital to improve the communities they know and love.

Opportunity Zones help address a number of challenges:

• Promoting economic vitality in parts of the state that have not shared in the general prosperity over the past few years;
• Funding the development of workforce and affordable housing in areas with escalating prices and inventory shortages;
• Funding new infrastructure to support population and economic growth;
• Investing in startup businesses that have potential for rapid increases in scale and the ability to “export” outside the state of Colorado;
• Upgrading the capability of existing underutilized assets through capital improvement investments.

More details regarding the Opportunity Zone can be found at choosecolorado.com/opportunity-zones, or by contacting Region 9 Economic Development District of Southwest Colorado (https://region9edd.org).

Benefit of an Opportunity Zone Investment

1. Temporary Deferral - A deferral of inclusion in taxable income for capital gains invested in Opportunity Funds until December 31, 2026
2. Step-up Basis -Reduction of tax owed on gains if held for 5 years (10%) 2 or 7 years (15%)
3. Permanent Exclusion - Any Growth in the value of the Opportunity Fund itself is tax free if held for 10+ 3 years.
Source: Colorado Office of Economic Development & International Trade

Enterprise Zone

Enterprise Zone Tax Credits are tax incentives to encourage businesses to stay, locate, and expand in designated economically distressed areas of the state. Colorado's Enterprise Zone (EZ) program provides certain state income tax credits and several other incentives for private enterprise to expand or for new businesses to locate within a state EZ area. A business located within these boundaries may be eligible for EZ tax credits, including capital investment tax credits, job tax credits, job training, research and development tax credits, and other credits and incentives. All of San Juan County is designated as an enhanced enterprise zone areas which means businesses are able to earn additional tax credits when adding net new employees.

Enterprise Zone Program | Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade

Rural Jump Start

Rural Jump Start: Rural Jump Start is a program for out of state and new businesses that relocate to a Jump-Start Zone by offering incentives through tax relief including credits, exemptions and refunds from state income tax, state sales and use tax, and county and municipal personal property taxes. Employees of new businesses receive a tax credit for 100% of state income taxes on their wages for work in the rural jump-start zones. All of San Juan County is a Rural Jump-Start County.

Rural Jump-Start Program | Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade

Southwest Colorado Resources

Colorado Companies to Watch

Colorado Demography Office

Colorado Department of Local Affairs

Colorado Department of Transportation

Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade

Colorado Procurement Technical Assistance Center

Colorado Rural Workforce Consortium

Fort Lewis College

Four Corners Office of Resource Efficiency

Manufacturer's EDGE

Pueblo Community College Southwest

Small Business Administration

Southwest Colorado Accelerator Program for Entrepreneurs (SCAPE)

Southwest Colorado Community College

Southwest Colorado Council of Governments

Southwest Colorado Regional Blueprint

Southwest Colorado Small Business Development Center

State of Colorado

Stats America

Telluride Venture Network Accelerator Program

USDA Rural Development

US Economic Development Administration