Boulder County economic development grants

Boulder County's 2017 round of annual economic development program grants, approved by the county commissioners on Thursday, included:

Boulder Chamber of Commerce/Economic Council: $47,750

Erie Chamber of Commerce: $3,750

Boulder Independent Business Alliance: $5,000

Lafayette Chamber of Commerce: $20,250

Latino Chamber of Commerce: $4,500

Longmont Economic Development Partnership: $34,857

Louisville Chamber of Commerce: $18,600

Niwot Business Association: $2,325

Small Business Development Center: $4,500

Superior Chamber of Commerce: $3,750

Tourism and Recreation Partnership: $11,475

Town of Lyons: $6,000

Town of Nederland: $6,000

Lyons will be getting $6,000 from Boulder County to help pay for purchasing 24 hanging planters for its downtown area, along with 24 banners to replace old and damaged banners along a stretch of the town's Main Street.

Boulder County commissioners on Thursday approved the $6,000 economic development grant for Lyons as part of their annual round of assisting in the funding of local economic programs throughout the county.

The county's 2017 grants to economic development organizations and local governments total $168,757.

Lyons' new hanging planters would be installed and hung during warm-weather seasons on every other light post along its Main Street corridor, the town said in its grant application.

Lyons' county award will also help pay for buying bear-proof recycling and waste bins for the Main Street area.

Last year, Lyons got $6,000 to help pay for installing an electric vehicle charging station that town officials said could increase the numbers of EV users stopping and shopping on their trips to and from the mountains.

That station is now in place in the parking area at Lyons' Sandstone Park.

The Longmont Economic Development Partnership will get $34,857 from the county. It said in its application that $13,500 would be spent on efforts to retain existing primary employers and local businesses, $9,777 on workforce development efforts to match job seekers with employers and $11,580 on such community and regional projects and programs as providing information on the Longmont area's demographics, economic development trends, sales and use tax exemptions, grants, housing permits and available sites and buildings.

The Niwot Business Association will get a $2,325 county grant to help pay for installing directory signs — to be located at Whistle Stop Park, at Second Avenue and Franklin Street, at the town's Sculpture Park and at Cottonwood Square — with maps to steer visitors to various businesses in that unincorporated town's Cottonwood Square and its Historic District.

"Often, visitors to Cottonwood Square are not aware of the goods and services that are available in the Historic District, and vice versa," Chuck Klueber, the Niwot Business Association's streetscapes representative, said in his organization's grant application.

The signs' design "will enhance the charm of the town, thus drawing new and returning visitors whose purchases will help fuel the economy," Klueber said.

Nederland will receive $6,000 in county economic development funding to help pay for updating the town's website to make it more visitor friendly and help boost sales at local businesses. Nederland's upgraded website is to include trail maps, campground regulations and locations and information about local businesses and nonprofits.

Through previous rounds of county economic grants, Nederland "has been able to develop the Visitors Center into a hub of information for visitors and locals alike. We had over 17,500 visitors stop by the Visitors Center for information and merchandise in 2016," town officials wrote in their grant application.

Nederland officials said the website update is intended to "make it more visitor friendly which will help boot visitation and sales at local businesses. We would like to make visitor information a lot easier to access, not only via computer but on mobile devices as well."

Pete Salas, a member of the county commissioners' staff, said each of the recipients of this year's economic development funding is getting the same dollar amount it did in 2016.

Salas said that many of the programs and organizations apply the county money toward their ongoing annual operating expenses and to subsidize their overall costs of holding special events and marketing their communities to visitors and businesses.

John Fryar: 303-684-5211, jfryar@times-call.com or twitter.com/jfryartc

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