Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Economic Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Fremont County renews participation in Rural Jumpstart; economic developer highlights Midicus manufacturing project
Summary
The Fremont County Board approved a resolution renewing participation in Colorado’s Rural Jumpstart program through Dec. 31, 2030. Fremont Economic Development Corporation said the program helps recruit employers such as Midicus Manufacturing, which expects to reopen the former Domtar site and hire dozens to hundreds of local workers.
FREMONT COUNTY, Colo. — The Fremont County Board of County Commissioners voted Aug. 12 to renew the county’s participation in Colorado’s Rural Jumpstart program, a state incentive package intended to attract new businesses and startups to rural communities.
The county approved Resolution No. 15, Series 2025, extending local participation through Dec. 31, 2030. The resolution passed on a voice roll call with all three commissioners voting aye.
The board heard a presentation from Diana Armstrong of the Fremont Economic Development Corporation (FEDC), who described the state program as a package of tax relief and a small grant opportunity that can help businesses relocate to or start in Fremont County. "New businesses that are interested in Fremont County, as a rural jump start county, are eligible for state tax relief," Armstrong said, summarizing the program’s principal benefits, including state income, property, and sales-and-use tax relief for qualifying firms and a grant opportunity with a $15,000 state match on eligible operating expenses.
Armstrong told commissioners the program includes safeguards intended to avoid subsidized competition with existing businesses: applicants must not directly compete with qualifying businesses in Fremont or participating adjacent counties, must commit to hire at least three employees at the county’s average wage within three years, and those employees must stay at least six months to qualify for the employee tax relief portion.
Eric Bonnick, chief financial officer of Midicus Manufacturing, told the board the company plans to reopen a shuttered manufacturing facility near Highway 120 in Florence (the former Domtar plant) to produce light-gauge-steel tiny houses and steel components. "Within about 90 days, we'll have a ribbon cutting, and then we'll start employing, hopefully, significant amount of workers here in the region," Bonnick said. He estimated staffing could grow to roughly 100 jobs in the near term and possibly approach 200 full-time positions with multiple shifts as production scales.
Commissioners said the county and FEDC wanted to offer local incentives to support projects that add jobs without undercutting incumbent businesses. The resolution notes the county and FEDC previously obtained Rural Jumpstart designation in 2020 and seeks to renew that status under the state program’s statutory window.
Votes at a glance: Resolution No. 15, Series 2025 — authorizing participation in the Rural Jumpstart program — moved, seconded, and approved on roll call (Commissioner McFaul: Aye; Commissioner Bell: Aye; Commissioner Grantham: Aye). The resolution includes authority to participate through Dec. 31, 2030, consistent with the current state statute.
The county and FEDC said the Rural Jumpstart designation and the state grant option are intended to lower early operating costs for eligible businesses while protecting existing local employers through the program’s noncompetition rules. FEDC and Midicus said they view the program as a complement to local recruitment and workforce development efforts.
Armstrong and Midicus staff declined to provide final, signed grant awards during the meeting; application and state approval remain required steps before any tax relief or grant funding is awarded.
