Economy & Economic Development  August 14, 2015

State adds large chunks of Boulder Valley, Northern Colorado to ‘Enterprise Zones’

Large areas in Larimer and Weld counties — as well as significant portions of Longmont, Broomfield and Lafayette — were added by the state this week to its designated list of “Enterprise Zones” that enable businesses located there to qualify for a wide range of tax credits.

The Colorado Economic Development Commission approved changes to the Enterprise Zones on Thursday, the first major revisions to the map since 1998, though some areas have been added piece by piece during that time. The latest changes take effect Jan. 1.

The idea of creating the zones is to help spur economic activity in areas that are economically distressed but also have strong commercial and industrial development potential. To qualify, areas must meet one of three criteria: have unemployment rates that are 25 percent above the state average, have per capita income that is 25 percent below the state average, or have slow population growth rates compared with the rest of the state.

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Existing and new businesses in designated Enterprise Zones can apply for tax credits on things such as investing in new equipment, providing job training, adding employees, providing health insurance and rehabilitating old buildings.

The North Metro zone, of which Longmont, Broomfield and Lafayette are part, is a newly created zone by the state.

In Longmont, the areas included in the zone include the urban-renewal area around the former Twin Peaks Mall site, the First and Main redevelopment area that includes the former Butterball Turkey Plant site, the Southeast urban renewal area and the St. Vrain River corridor through much of the city.

The areas of Lafayette within the red boundaries are all included in the new North Metro Enterprise Zone. (City of Lafayette)
CLICK TO ENLARGE. The areas of Lafayette within the red boundaries are all included in the new North Metro Enterprise Zone. (City of Lafayette)

“Anything we can do to encourage reinvestment we think will be a benefit to improving conditions in those areas,” said Longmont Area Economic Council president Jessica Erickson, who spearheaded Longmont’s application that it submitted in conjunction with Lafayette and Broomfield.

In Lafayette, much of the city east of U.S. Highway 287 and Public Road were added. A broad swath of the city west of 287 and south of South Boulder Road were also included.

The highlighted areas show the areas in Broomfield that are included in the new North Metro Enterprise zone. (City of Broomfield)
CLICK TO ENLARGE. The highlighted areas show the areas in Broomfield that are included in the new North Metro Enterprise zone. (City of Broomfield)

In Broomfield, meanwhile, the Enterprise Zone includes several of the older portions of the city, roughly including a large chunk west of 287 as well as everything in the city limits that is both east of U.S. Highway 36 and south of 120th Avenue. Mike Van Den Bosch, senior economic development specialist for the city, said Broomfield has seen some manufacturing resurgence in those areas already.

“We just have not seen the level that we would have hoped,” Van Den Bosch said. “A lot of the buildings are a little tired and rundown. So we’re really looking at this as an opportunity (for facility upgrades).”

Larimer and Weld counties already had significant Enterprise Zones but have added to them with the latest approved maps.

Larimer’s zone, which had previously included a sizable chunk of northeast Fort Collins, has added some other areas of town, as well as a significant area south of Wellington, much of the town of Berthoud, parts of Loveland, and much of the area surrounding Estes Park and the canyons leading up to it.

The cross-hatched areas on the map show the areas that have been added to the Larimer County Enterprise Zone. (Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade)
CLICK TO ENLARGE. The cross-hatched areas on the map show the areas that have been added to the Larimer County Enterprise Zone. (Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade)

Weld County’s zone added a large portion in the northwest part of the county north of Colorado Highway 14. While several areas in and around Greeley were already included, more there were added, as well as areas along U.S. Highway 85 near the communities of Gilchrest, LaSalle and Platteville; large areas on both the east and west sides of Fort Lupton; and significant areas near Hudson and Keenesburg.

Because the zones are based off of census-tract blocks, Weld County also had a few areas removed as some of those blocks changed. That includes a strip along U.S. Highway 34 extending east from Kersey. Some of the formerly included areas, though, were also removed from the zone because they no longer qualified as distressed. Those included some portions of the zone around Dacono and Severance.

Cathy Schulte with Upstate Colorado said the northwest part of the county was added because of the potential that is there with the presence of the Niobrara Energy Park. The area around Hudson along County Road 49 is also an area that is distressed but expected to become a growth corridor.

“We thought there were some real unique opportunities there,” Schulte said.

The cross-hatched areas on the map show the areas that the state recently approved to be added to the Weld County Enterprise Zone. (Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade)
CLICK TO ENLARGE. The cross-hatched areas on the map show the areas that the state recently approved to be added to the Weld County Enterprise Zone. (Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade)

Large areas in Larimer and Weld counties — as well as significant portions of Longmont, Broomfield and Lafayette — were added by the state this week to its designated list of “Enterprise Zones” that enable businesses located there to qualify for a wide range of tax credits.

The Colorado Economic Development Commission approved changes to the Enterprise Zones on Thursday, the first major revisions to the map since 1998, though some areas have been added piece by piece during that time. The latest changes take effect Jan. 1.

The idea of creating the zones is to help spur economic activity in areas…

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