Health Equity Strategic Plan | OEDIT
Visit the Office of Economic Development & International Trade website, call 303-892-3840, or contact OEDIT for more information or assistance with direct services.
Priority:
Problem statement
Rural communities face significant challenges to economic resilience and instability, including declining population, limited employment opportunities, and a reliance on a single industry or employer. Housing shortages across the state also present considerable challenges to economic mobility. According to the 2023 U.S. Housing Underproduction Report produced by Up for Growth, the difference between total housing need and housing affordability in Colorado is roughly 101,000 housing units. To address these problems, the Colorado Office of Economic Development & International Trade (OEDIT) is seeking to cultivate the business environment – with a focus on rural communities – necessary to create and retain jobs, and support the creation of new housing across Colorado to improve economic mobility for all Coloradans.
Community engagement
OEDIT conducts community engagement through the following:
- All OEDIT divisions/programs host webinar/seminars, town halls, workshops, information sessions, etc.
- OEDIT’s Rural Opportunity Office, Small Business Development Center Network, and Minority Business Office regularly provide business consulting and engagement through one on one meetings.
- When launching new programs, OEDIT hosts meetings with communities that have been identified as recipients of services in order to collect community input/feedback on the program's design and implementation.
OEDIT plans to expand community engagement over the next two to five years in the following ways:
- Updating OEDIT’s data collection process to a standardized and centralized data model that will allow the agency to better respond to the needs of communities. This will allow the agency to reorient its focus on locations that have been underserved in previous years to ensure OEDIT’s services are more equitable.
- OEDIT is creating a toolkit to standardize community engagement for design, implementation, evaluation, and modification of OEDIT programs.
Support job retention and growth in rural communities
OEDIT will use existing staff, state, and federal funds to provide resources for rural communities to establish the business environment necessary to attract new businesses and create new jobs. The State will also provide the tools necessary to retain existing jobs where possible. To do this, OEDIT will provide free one-on-one business consulting to assist in business creation and growth, as well as provide funding opportunities that will assist in the creation and retention of jobs. Through this work, communities will be better positioned to attract new business.
Communities prioritized by this strategy:
- Low-income communities
- Historically marginalized communities
- Rural communities
Areas of impact
This strategy will impact Coloradans in the highlighted counties:
- List of counties affected
- Alamosa County
- Archuleta County
- Baca County
- Bent County
- Chaffee County
- Cheyenne County
- Clear Creek County
- Conejos County
- Costilla County
- Crowley County
- Custer County
- Delta County
- Dolores County
- Eagle County
- Elbert County
- Fremont County
- Garfield County
- Gilpin County
- Grand County
- Gunnison County
- Hinsdale County
- Huerfano County
- Jackson County
- Kiowa County
- Kit Carson County
- La Plata County
- Lake County
- Las Animas County
- Lincoln County
- Logan County
- Mesa County
- Mineral County
- Moffat County
- Montezuma County
- Montrose County
- Morgan County
- Otero County
- Ouray County
- Park County
- Phillips County
- Pitkin County
- Prowers County
- Pueblo County
- Rio Blanco County
- Rio Grande County
- Routt County
- Saguache County
- San Juan County
- San Miguel County
- Sedgwick County
- Summit County
- Teller County
- Washington County
- Yuma County
2024 milestones
- Provide 1:1 consulting to support job creation and retention in rural communities. [Complete]
- Target marketing and communications campaigns in order to support rural job creation and retention. [Complete]
2025 milestones
- Provide 1:1 consulting to support job creation and retention in rural communities.
- Target marketing and communications campaigns in order to support rural job creation and retention.
- Increase rural businesses’ access to capital through deployment of state funding and incentives.
2026 milestones
- Provide 1:1 consulting to support job creation and retention in rural communities.
- Target marketing and communications campaigns in order to support rural job creation and retention.
- Increase rural businesses’ access to capital through deployment of state funding and incentives.
By December 2024:
- Support rural communities in attracting and retaining 3,100 jobs. [Complete]
- Provide 10,000 hours of 1:1 consulting, supporting job creation and retention in rural communities. [Complete]
- Target marketing and communications campaigns to support rural job creation and retention to increase media hits and digital engagements, resulting in 72,060 media hits and digital engagements. [Complete]
By December 2025:
- Support rural communities in attracting and retaining 5,300 jobs.
- Provide 11,500 hours of 1:1 consulting, supporting job creation and retention in rural communities.
- Target marketing and communications campaigns to support rural job creation and retention to increase media hits and digital engagements, resulting in 148,000 media hits and digital engagements.
- Increase rural businesses access to capital by $31M.
By December 2026:
- Support rural communities in attracting and retaining 5,500 jobs.
Support the creation of new affordable housing units across Colorado
To address Colorado’s housing shortage, OEDIT is partnering with the Colorado Housing & Finance Authority (CHFA) and the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) to launch and implement Proposition 123 grant and financing programs. The State Affordable Housing Fund, created by Proposition 123, will allocate an estimated $300M in funding annually through OEDIT & the DOLA. OEDIT will continue to leverage its other housing programs, including the Innovative Housing Incentive Program (IHIP), a grant and loan program to support the modular and innovative building industry, and the Middle Income Housing Authority, whose purpose is to create new housing for critical community workforce including teachers, medical professionals, government and public safety staff etc.
Communities prioritized by this strategy:
- Low-income communities
- Communities of color
- Housing cost-burdened communities
- Historically marginalized communities
- Rural communities
- Tribal lands
- Mobile home communities
Areas of impact
This strategy will impact Coloradans statewide.
2024 milestones
- Launch Proposition 123 programs and host and participate in community engagement meetings to promote OEDIT's housing programs. [Complete]
- Coordinate with other state agencies to develop and implement new environmental sustainability and transportation-oriented community standards for all OEDIT housing programs, aligned with the State's Strategic Growth Executive Order. [Complete]
- Create targeted recommendations that increase access to childcare in new affordable housing developments. [Complete]
2025 milestones
- Award a mix of housing projects across the state in rural and urban areas and spread between low income and middle income units to ensure there is equitable access to state housing programs and a continuum of housing units available for a range of income levels.
- Increase awareness of state-funded housing programs through industry engagement meetings.
- Prioritize Proposition 123 awards to housing projects that include childcare facilities and support the development of a childcare facilities toolkit for housing developers.
- Support DOLA & the Colorado Department of Early Education (CDEC) in the implementation of HB24-1237 - Programs for the Development of Child Care Facilities which will include a toolkit for developers and local governments.
- This toolkit aims to incentivize either the creation of home based childcare units in the development, or build the development close to childcare facilities.
- Develop and launch the Proposition 123 Tenant Equity Vehicle to support savings and wealth building opportunities for tenants of Proposition 123 supported rental housing projects.
- Prioritize housing developments that receive state support will either be within a ½ mile from regularly-scheduled transit or a community job center.
By December 2024
- Support the creation of at least 2,000 housing units. [Complete]
- Launch all new Proposition 123 Programs. [Complete]
- Host at least 150 community engagement meetings to promote OEDIT's housing programs. [Complete]
By December 2025
- Support the creation of at least 6,100 housing units.
- Award at least 50% of housing development projects in rural counties.
- Attend 200 housing industry engagement meetings to raise program awareness and promote state housing resources.
- Award 4 housing development projects that incorporate commercial or in-home childcare facilities.
- Support 50 housing developments in transit oriented, and walkable areas
- Fund at least 4 housing projects built with offsite building technology from Colorado manufacturers.
By December 2026
- Support the creation of at least 6,100 housing units.