RMI2 gets grant to go regional

FORT COLLINS – The Rocky Mountain Innovation Initiative might have its roots in the Fort Collins Technology Incubator, but its ever-evolving slate of services and continued regional expansion since 1998 helped it land a crucial operational grant typically reserved for younger programs.

At its September meeting the Colorado Economic Development Commission approved a $150,000, three-year grant for RMI2. The funding – $75,000 in the first year, followed by $50,000 and $25,000 – will give the organization a much-needed boost as it prepares to grow into a new facility and grow its partnerships beyond county lines.

“With the goals we’ve set for the next five years, it will take a higher level of staffing,” explained RMI2 Executive Director Mark Forsyth. He expects that the grant will help the organization add two additional full-time staff members.

Earlier this year, RMI2 landed financing for a new 31,000-square-foot building in Fort Collins that will finally bring all of its incubator companies under one roof, with space for more. The $7.1 million project is set to receive $2.8 million in tax increment financing from the city of Fort Collins’ Urban Renewal Authority and $1.8 million from the state-supported New Markets Tax Credits. The long-term debt to RMI2 will be about $2.5 million.

The new building has been a long-term goal for the organization. So far, it has been lucky enough to find additional leased space in city buildings as Fort Collins shuffled departments. The city recently made a fourth building available, and RMI2 expanded into the former Island Grove Regional Treatment Center on West Mountain Avenue. With new startup clientele and existing incubator companies ready to expand, that space is nearly full.

New clients, new services

RMI2 has seen a surge in new clients and applications during the past few months. Since the spring, it has received 20 applications, and in the past month, six new clients have joined, bringing its total number of fledgling firms to 15. By comparison, in 2007 the program had five incubator clients and accepted no new ones. Forsyth hopes to double the number of companies the organization can handle in the next year and to have the new facility almost fully leased when it opens.

With all of the growth, the prospect of a new building, and continuing rollout of new services, RMI2’s need for additional operating funds became quickly apparent, and the organization asked the state for help.

While the economic development commission has a history of awarding grants to incubators, funds are typically reserved for brand-new efforts. The commission unanimously approved the RMI2 grant after hearing about its ongoing evolution.

“The grant was really for continuing to expand our regional focus,” Forsyth said.

RMI2 is already making strides toward enveloping Northern Colorado. It is working more closely with the University of Northern Colorado’s Monfort College of Business, pulling together a business plan competition for the spring, among other partnerships.

The organization will also host its monthly Innovation After Hours event in Greeley, with a focus on the city’s plans for a clean energy park. Incubator company Symbios Technologies LLC has taken the lead in the early stage planning for the project.

Clean Energy Park progress

In April, the city of Greeley received an $82,000 grant from the Governor’s Energy Office to look at the feasibility of the Greeley Clean Energy Park within the Western Sugar Tax Increment Financing District where Leprino Foods intends to build a cheese factory. A central feature would be an anaerobic digester that could take organic waste from Leprino and JBS-Swift and produce biogas to serve the energy needs of business and industry within the park.

The six-month grant allowed for the first phase of an engineering and economic analysis.

“We’re five months into the six-month grant,´ said Bruce Biggi, Greeley’s economic development manager, adding that he expects to receive the first draft of the analysis from Symbios shortly.

Biggi explained that the analysis will contain three major elements:

• An overall review and thorough analysis of leading technologies for anaerobic digestion;
• Results from a waste sample analysis conducted by a Colorado State University researcher to determine the methane value of various sources;
• A techno-economic analysis weighing the costs of the technologies available, the potential revenue streams that could be created and the optimal size for the project.

While the study is really just a first step, it is already garnering interest.

“The project has already attracted the attention of related alternative energy companies,” Biggi said.

The synergies and technology combinations possible among RMI2 companies has been impressive. Another incubator company – solar integrator Wirsol – has expressed an interest in the clean energy project because anaerobic digestion technology offers an energy source that can be used to fill gaps when solar or wind generation is not available. Symbios has also discussed the potential of using methane to run reciprocal engines to generate electricity and is investigating how technology developed by VanDyne SuperTurbocharger, yet another incubator company, could increase efficiencies.

“It’s almost mind-blowing,” Biggi said. “We have all of these options, so now we have to decide what is the best for the project and most feasible economically.”

The next step will be to review the feasibility study to determine the opportunities for economic viability. Biggi said that the project would not move forward if it wouldn’t be sustainable. If ample opportunities are identified, another RFP will be issued seeking private investors and companies to partner with the city of Greeley. Additional grant opportunities would also be sought.

“We think this is a really exciting project,” Forsyth said.

Showcase for local innovation

With so many local firms already chiming in with possibilities, Forsyth feels that the energy park could truly be a showcase for the region and the state. Demonstrating what can be accomplished, especially by locally grown innovation, is becoming a theme at RMI2 as groundbreaking for the new facility nears.

“We want to have a showcase of renewable energy at the facility,” he said.

RMI2 is consulting with Wirsol on possible rooftop and/or parking lot solar projects. Forsyth hopes that the project can be a part of FortZED – an initiative to turn a portion of Fort Collins from the CSU campus to downtown into a zero-energy district. He also anticipates applying for additional grant assistance for the renewable energy projects.

While grants have proven to be an excellent source of funding for RMI2, the organization is already looking to the future. The Internal Revenue Service recently granted the organization 501(c)(3) status, which allows tax-deductible donations from businesses and individuals. RMI2 was also added to the list of state Enterprise Zone-approved programs. With the designations, contributors can claim a tax credit of 25 percent for cash or 12.5 percent for in-kind donations.

“It’s good timing because we will be ramping up our fundraising efforts,” Forsyth said.

The RMI2 board decided that rather than ask for additional funding from its existing supporters – the cities of Fort Collins, Loveland and Greeley, CSU, UNC, Larimer County and the Northern Colorado Economic Development Corp. – the organization would undertake a fundraising campaign, perhaps timed to coincide with the facility groundbreaking at the start of the year.

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