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Rangely reports six-figure small-business grant dispersals and readies $30,000 pitch competition
Summary
Town staff reported that the RARE small-business grant program has distributed roughly $122,451 to local businesses and has additional awards pending; council heard details about business upgrades supported by the grants and learned the second-year pitch competition will take place Sept. 18 with $30,000 in prizes.
Town staff updated the council on local small-business support and marketing efforts funded through the RARE grant program, reporting substantial dispersals to Main Street businesses and plans for an expanded community pitch competition.
Marketing supervisor Genie said the program has dispersed $122,451.39 to date and that additional approved awards were listed in the packet; the transcript contains garbled figures for one line item, so staff will provide corrected accounting in the written packet. Genie said the funds have supported improvements at local businesses such as the Blue Mountain Inn, a plumbing business and Rangely Collision, which purchased calibration equipment to service smart windshields locally.
The town also plans a pitch competition on Sept. 18 that will award $30,000 in prizes (first place $15,000; second place $10,000; third place $5,000), and a children’s pitch track funded by a separate youth grant (Genie said $5,000 was secured for the youth awards). Staff said the program is intended to spur entrepreneurship and expand local services.
Other updates: staff described new promotional videos, growth in the town’s social-media following and progress building an online permits portal to streamline building- and demolition-permit workflows. The town also celebrated a recent boat-ramp dedication attended by state and regional partners, which staff said drew about 50 community members.
What’s next: staff will provide corrected grant-dispersal figures in the council packet and release formal information about the Sept. 18 pitch competition and the youth awards track.
