The state of Colorado through its Office of Economic Development and International Trade is placing a priority on helping urban companies recruit employees who can work from rural areas of the state. It has just hired three “location neutral” employees to help expand rural prosperity. 

Location Neutral Employment is a new performance-based incentive program offered by OEDIT, designed to encourage companies to hire remote workers for their metro-based companies. The program provides a standard job growth incentive tax credit for urban/rural job creation with an additional strategic fund cash incentive for each remote rural job created in an eligible rural county. The Location Neutral Employment incentive provides a state income tax credit and a per job cash grant to businesses undertaking job creation projects in the state.

“We’ve made progress on lowering the cost of health care in rural communities, working with our agriculture industry and increasing rural economic development but there’s more we can do,”  Gov. Jared Polis said in a written statement. “The state should be meeting rural Coloradans where they are and help folks get ahead. That’s why our administration is committed to expanding opportunity for our rural communities while ensuring they are prepared for the future.  This move will help get us closer to that goal.” 

The three staff members hired to administer the program are Katharina (Kat) Papenbrock, who will represent Western Colorado; Greg Thomason for Eastern Colorado; and Thomas Monaco, who will represent Southern Colorado. 

“OEDIT wants to lead by example, showing how metro offices can benefit from the expertise and outreach of Colorado’s remote workers,” said Glenn Plagens, director of business support and rural prosperity for OEDIT. “By embedding our employees directly in the communities they serve, we can better support greater Colorado and help drive economic prosperity.”

Papenbrock has worked at the Ouray Tourism Office for the past eight years, most recently as the executive director. Thomason comes to OEDIT from the Morgan County Economic Development Corp. where he has been the executive director since 2016.  Monaco comes from the San Luis Valley Small Business Development Center where he served as the director.