Program Summary

The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Business Loan helps businesses in rural areas by giving loans and loan guarantees. A business typically needs to create or retain one job for each $20,000 in loan funds. If your business has five or fewer employees, you may be exempt from that requirement through a micro enterprise loan. Every year, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s State CDBG program gives Colorado money for community and economic development. Specifically, this money is used to aid the state’s business loan funds. The money goes into 14 regional loan funds to create and retain jobs in Colorado. The funds cover most of Colorado’s rural areas. Each of the 14 regional funds is led locally with its own dedicated regional business loan fund manager, local loan review committee, and local board of directors.

Learn More About The Community Development Block Grant Business Loan

If the business is in one of these areas, it is not eligible for this program:

  • Adams County (unincorporated areas and Bennett, Broomfield, Brighton, Federal Heights, Northglenn and Thornton)
  • Arapahoe County (unincorporated areas and Bow Mar, Centennial, Cherry Hills Village, Columbine Valley, Deer Trail, Englewood, Glendale, Greenwood Village, Littleton, and Sheridan)
  • Douglas County (unincorporated areas and Castle Rock, Larkspur, Lone Tree, and Parker)
  • Jefferson County (unincorporated areas and Arvada, Edgewater, Golden, Lakewood, Mountain View, and Wheat Ridge)
  • Aurora
  • Boulder
  • Colorado Springs
  • Denver
  • Fort Collins
  • Grand Junction
  • Greeley
  • Lakewood
  • Longmont
  • Loveland
  • Pueblo
  • Westminster

  • Small Businesses

  • Rural Businesses

  • Loans and micro-enterprise loans

The business typically needs to create or retain one job for every $20,000 in funds received. The business typically needs to fill at least 51% of the jobs it creates and/or retains with low- to moderate-income persons. If the business has five or fewer employees, it may be exempt from that requirement through a micro enterprise loan.

Borrowers may use these loans in an eligible rural area to:

  • Start a business
  • Expand a business
  • Stabilize an existing business

To apply for a Community Development Block Grant Business Loan, contact the business’s regional business loan fund manager. The application will need to include:

  • Business plan
  • Pro forma projections
  • Historical and recent financial statements
  • Projected job creation/retention information
  • Additional information as directed by the local fund administrator