Silverton’s economy is getting some much needed funding thanks to a $75,000 grant awarded to The San Juan Development Association by Colorado’s Division of Local Affairs’ Rural Economic Development Initiative.
“It's super exciting,” said SJDA spokeswoman Beth Kremer. “It’s through DOLA for the Rural Economic Development Incentive grant, and it's there to help support small rural communities with different types of projects and positions.”
According to DOLA’s website, successful applicants for the REDI grant are from counties with fewer than 50,000 people and communities with fewer than 25,000 people. Counties or communities that apply have to show that the projects will fall under job creation and retention, capacity building, economic resilience and support of entrepreneurial ecosystems.
The SJDA applied for the grant in September and finally learned its proposal was accepted in December.
“It’s a grant to help spur on either economic diversification or development,” Kremer said. “The San Juan Development Association is really the only economic housing and community development organization here serving Silverton in San Juan County. We do a lot of small business support, connecting them to resources, supporting them with training and helping identify potential companies to come to this area.”
According to its website, SJDA’s mission is to enhance “economic diversification in Silverton and San Juan County, CO by promoting collaboration, partnerships, and trust between businesses, nonprofits, and local governments through community priority projects.”
Creating a master plan of economic plans in 2022, the SJDA now has monetary backing to move forward on several key town projects planned for 2023 and beyond.
“We're focusing on a lot of the recent projects that were identified in our master plan that got approved last summer,” Kremer said. “We went after this grant to help the town and county and all the other kinds of entities move these projects forward. It also helps with management of our organization (SJDA), and setting up long-term, financial funding sources and membership opportunities, and allows me to work on the strategic direction of this organization, so that we can have more stability and a clear path forward.”
Kremer said the grant money will also help pay for a new full-time economic development position in San Juan County, something SJDA and Kremer desperately need.
“We’ve got a lot of projects we’re working on, but I'm really the only staff member,” she said. “I'm in a part-time role. This grant will really allow the organization to bring on additional staff and pay them to take on some of these projects and really go out into the community, so that they can feel our presence a lot more.”
The San Juan Development Association is comprised of board members who represent Silverton and San Juan County, Silverton Chamber of Commerce, Silverton School District, and Region 9 Economic Development District of Southwest Colorado. The additional position the REDI grant will help pay for is a Community Project and Sustainability Coordinator, according to a news release.
Kremer said another thing that excites her about the REDI grant is the help it will bring to the affordable housing and broadband projects already underway in San Juan County.
“We're trying to be pretty aggressive with housing opportunities,” she said. “We're doing a lot with housing development right now. They’re currently working on building some single-family homes in the Anvil (Mountain) Subdivision. There’s also a lot of work around broadband, getting additional broadband access. Having that additional resource, so we don’t have any restrictions is really helping us. I think those are the two areas that the grant is really going to help support in the future.”
molsen@durangoherald.com
