This May Be the Driest Article I Write This Year, and Also the Most Critical to Your Business.
On grants, loans, and the Colorado capital infrastructure your outdoor brand has been ignoring.
This May I was invited to an Outdoor Industry Capital Ecosystem Summit held at the offices of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) in Denver. The room was a mix of investors, economic development people, state agency staff, and a handful of founders. One of the core topics was what Colorado has actually built to support businesses in this space. The pushback from nearly everyone in the room was the same: there was almost no awareness out there of the programs or how they worked.
None of that is a knock on the people running these programs. Eve Lieberman, who leads OEDIT, and Conor Hall, who runs OREC, are genuinely good people doing serious work — talented, mission-driven, and fully committed to helping the businesses and communities they serve. The gap isn’t effort or intention. It’s that state programs are state programs: built by committee, documented in the language of bureaucracy, and spread across a dozen agency websites that nobody in the outdoor industry has ever bookmarked. That’s just what this kind of infrastructure looks like. It doesn’t make it less valuable — it makes it more worth navigating.
Colorado has built a serious parallel capital infrastructure for small businesses — outdoor businesses included — and the founders who need it most are largely navigating blind. The programs are real. The money is real. The gap is just awareness.
I’m writing this to close that gap, at least for the people reading this. If you know a founder who’s been through every conventional door — angels, VCs, a bank that shrugged at their inventory — send this to them. Repost for others. Spread the word. That’s the whole ask.
When I started digging in, I found more than a dozen distinct programs with real money attached. I’ve organized them the way you’ll actually use them — by what you need, not alphabetically.
One more thing before we get into it: at the bottom of this article there’s a link to a companion tool I built to help you work through the decision trees. Program eligibility isn’t always obvious, and the right resource depends on your stage, geography, and what you’re actually trying to fund. The tool walks you through it. Use it.
The first call most Colorado outdoor founders should make isn’t to an investor.
It’s to the Colorado Outdoor Recreation Industry Office (OREC). OREC is a division inside OEDIT. Its mandate is to serve as the central resource hub for the businesses and communities that rely on Colorado’s outdoor recreation economy — $18.1 billion in value-added GDP, a top-10 national ranking, as of 2024. Their job includes recruiting companies to Colorado through incentive programs, connecting small businesses with capital, and supporting foreign direct investment and export strategies for outdoor brands.
They go to trade shows. They run investment missions. They have a staff directory. You can call them. If you’re an outdoor brand in this state and you’ve never had a conversation with OREC, that’s the first gap to close. Not because they’ll write you a check — they won’t — but because they know where the checks are and will help you find them.
Running parallel to OREC is the Colorado Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network — free, confidential business consulting and low-cost training, statewide. For a founder trying to tighten their financial model before approaching a lender, build a grant application narrative, or figure out whether they’re export-ready, this is where to start. No equity. No fees. No catch.
Colorado has grant money that doesn’t require giving up equity or paying it back.
Two programs are worth knowing cold.
The State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) Grant funds international business development activities: trade show attendance, airfare, booth fees, market research, compliance testing for new export markets, attorney fees on international distributor agreements. Federally funded through the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), administered in Colorado by OEDIT. To qualify: Colorado-registered, at least one year old, exporting goods with at least 51% U.S. content, and either new to export or entering a new market. Think ISPO Munich. OutDoor by ISPO in Friedrichshafen. The Scandinavian buyers’ trip you’ve been putting off because you couldn’t justify the travel budget. The STEP Grant is specifically designed to fund exactly that. It runs on an annual cycle — if this cycle is closed, mark the next one.
The Rural Jump-Start Program offers grants and tax credits for new businesses starting or relocating into rural, economically distressed Colorado counties designated as Jump-Start zones. “Rural” in the outdoor industry isn’t a consolation prize — it’s where the brands with real identity get built. Smartwool started in a Steamboat Springs garage. Chaco was founded in Paonia. Osprey built itself in Cortez. If you’re based outside the Front Range, find out whether your county qualifies. The answer might surprise you.
The loan programs people ignore are the ones built for founders who’ve been told no.
The instinct is to treat government loan programs as a last resort. I’d push back on that framing. The programs below weren’t designed for businesses that fit the conventional credit box. They were designed specifically for early-stage companies, limited collateral, rural geography, nontraditional models. That describes most of the outdoor brands I talk to.
CLIMBER Loans — Colorado Loans to Increase Mainstreet Business Economic Resiliency — provide working capital between $10,000 and $500,000, with below-market interest rates and a one-year deferred payment option. A one-year payment deferral on a working capital loan isn’t something your regional bank is going to offer. A one-year payment deferral doesn’t sound exciting until you’re the founder who bought $180,000 in outerwear inventory in February that won’t hit retail floors until September. For an outdoor brand managing seasonal inventory cycles — where cash goes out in Q1 and Q2 for product that won’t generate revenue until Q3 and Q4 — that structure can be the difference between surviving your growth year and not. You don’t apply to the state directly. You apply through a participating lender: banks, credit unions, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), and nonprofit lenders.
The Colorado Startup Loan Fund (CSLF) is probably the most important program in this piece, and the least known. The CSLF provides capital through eight mission-driven lenders to make loans under $150,000 to Colorado entrepreneurs who can’t access traditional financing. Think: three years in, real revenue, real customers — maybe an NPS in the eighties — and a bank that still won’t look at you because you don’t own property. It runs on a revolving basis through 2032. The lender network is geographically distributed in ways that specifically serve outdoor industry communities:
ROUTT, SUMMIT, EAGLE, PITKIN, GARFIELD, GRAND, MOFFAT + SURROUNDING COUNTIES
The backbone lender for Colorado’s mountain outdoor economy corridor, from Steamboat to Aspen to Summit County. They understand the businesses in these communities because they live in them — seasonal cash flow, inventory-heavy models, limited hard collateral. If you’re building in the mountains, this is your first call on the CSLF network.
First Southwest Community Fund
INNOVATE ONWARDS FUND · RURAL COLORADO STATEWIDE
Working capital loans for new and existing businesses across rural Colorado through their Innovate Onwards Fund. Designed specifically for founders who fall outside the conventional lending box — early stage, limited collateral, rural zip code. If your geography has kept you out of other conversations, First Southwest is worth a direct call.
STATEWIDE
One of the most flexible lenders in the CSLF network, covering working capital, inventory, equipment, debt refinance, and business acquisition statewide. B:Side is built for businesses that don’t fit a single clean category — and most outdoor brands don’t. If you’ve been turned down elsewhere because your financing need is a little complicated, that’s exactly what they’re set up for.
STATEWIDE
Loan capital statewide, plus free business coaching through their Navigator program for every borrower — not just the ones who ask. That combination matters. Most early-stage founders need both capital and someone to help them deploy it well. Colorado Enterprise Fund is one of the few lenders that builds the coaching in by default.
Region 9 Economic Development District
ARCHULETA, DOLORES, MONTEZUMA, LA PLATA, SAN JUAN COUNTIES
The CSLF lender for the southwestern corner of the state — Durango, Cortez, Pagosa Springs, Silverton. This is one of the most outdoor-brand-dense regions in Colorado, and Region 9 is the economic development infrastructure that supports it. If you’re building there and haven’t talked to them, you’re leaving a resource on the table that your neighbors are probably already using.
Cash Collateral Support, managed by the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA), solves the collateral problem. Outdoor brand inventory — packrafts, outerwear, paddleboards, fly rods — is not the same collateral as real estate. Traditional lenders discount it heavily or don’t count it at all. Cash Collateral Support bridges that gap by pledging a cash deposit as additional collateral to the lender when a business can’t meet standard requirements. Maximum loan size: $20 million. Deposit capped at 35% of the loan or $500,000, whichever is lower. Under 750 employees.
There’s also a local accelerator ecosystem most Colorado outdoor brands have never mapped.
FORMERLY GREATER COLORADO VENTURE FUND · REBRANDED SEPTEMBER 2025
Early-stage VC backing founders in rural and overlooked Colorado regions — Steamboat, Durango, Glenwood, Montrose — with outdoors as an explicit sector focus. They invest where the Front Range VC ecosystem largely doesn’t. If you’re building a scalable outdoor brand outside Denver and Boulder and wondering why you can’t get a meeting, Howdy Partners is who you should be talking to instead.
SOUTHWEST & WESTERN SLOPE COLORADO · FOUNDED 2013
Quarterly acceleration bootcamps with co-working space across Telluride, Ridgway, Montrose, and Grand Junction. 95+ investments since 2013 and still active. In 2024 they launched a character-based loan fund — up to $25,000 for bootcamp graduates — which means you can leave their program with both a sharper business and actual capital. For founders on the Western Slope who feel like they’re building in isolation, this is the room to be in.
GUNNISON · WESTERN COLORADO UNIVERSITY
The Gunnison Valley’s dedicated entrepreneurial support organization, housed at Western Colorado University. Co-working space, a business incubator for early-stage companies, and an annual Outdoor Industry Funding Summit that puts outdoor startups directly in front of investors. Alumni include Gnara and Blister. If you’re building in the Crested Butte corridor and haven’t been through their door yet, that’s the first thing to fix.
Yampa Valley Entrepreneurship Center (YVEC)
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS · UNDER RCEDP · EST. 1999
Free, confidential business counseling for new and existing businesses in Steamboat Springs and the Yampa Valley since 1999 — hundreds of local businesses have come through here. In 2024 they evolved their pitch competition into the High Country Accelerator, a structured program for startups across the valley. If you’re building in Routt County and haven’t had a conversation with John Maurer or Paula Brown at YVEC, that’s a gap worth closing this week.
STATEWIDE · RURAL FOCUS
Startup Colorado is the statewide nonprofit built for rural founders — not a one-off accelerator, but a full continuum from idea stage to investment readiness. Programs include Idea Factory, Growth Challenge, pitch events, advisor sessions, and West Slope Startup Week. Their free Startup Colorado Funding Database maps venture capital, grants, loans, and crowdfunding options for Colorado startups. The Access to Capital Roadtrip takes that work offline, bringing funders, lenders, and investors directly into rural communities. The next evolution is a Rural Angel Investor Network — activating local wealth, connecting it to local companies, and building a real investment pipeline outside the Front Range. If you’re a rural Colorado founder moving from “I have an idea” to “I’m ready for capital,” this is one of the first networks to know.
Colorado built an $18.1 billion outdoor recreation economy. Then it built infrastructure to keep growing it. The gap has never been resources — it’s been awareness. That’s what this piece is for.
Start with OREC. Call your regional SBDC. Find out whether your county qualifies for Rural Jump-Start. Map the CSLF lender in your geography. If you’re thinking about international distribution, flag the STEP Grant for next year’s application cycle.
The capital stack you’ve been looking for isn’t hiding. It’s just been living at oedit.colorado.gov in a tab you’ve never opened.
COMPANION TOOL
Program eligibility depends on your stage, geography, and what you’re trying to fund. The Colorado Outdoor Capital Navigator walks you through the decision trees so you can figure out which programs actually apply to you, not just which ones exist.
Colorado Outdoor Capital Navigator →
If you’re building an outdoor brand in Colorado and want a straight conversation about where you are and where you’re going, feel free to reach out.
I’m Andrew Luter, founder of Rio Chato Investments. We back early-stage outdoor recreation and lifestyle brands — the kind of companies building gear and experiences for people who’d rather be outside. I’m based in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, which is basically a full-time reminder of why this space matters.
#OutdoorIndustry #ColoradoBusiness #OutdoorBrands #EarlyStageInvesting #RioChato #FlyFishing #OutdoorRecreation #SmallBusiness #Colorado #Entrepreneurship
A note on the alphabet soup: state programs love acronyms the way outdoor brands love hang tags. Here's what everything actually means.
Glossary
OEDIT Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade. The state agency that houses all the programs in this article.
OREC Colorado Outdoor Recreation Industry Office. The division within OEDIT dedicated to outdoor recreation businesses. Your first call.
SBDC Small Business Development Center. Free, confidential consulting and low-cost training statewide. No equity, no fees.
SBA U.S. Small Business Administration. The federal agency that funds programs like the STEP Grant.
STEP State Trade Expansion Program. SBA grant administered by OEDIT. Covers international trade show attendance, market research, export costs. Annual cycle.
CLIMBER Colorado Loans to Increase Mainstreet Business Economic Resiliency. $10K–$500K, below-market rates, one-year payment deferral. Applied through participating lenders.
CSLF Colorado Startup Loan Fund. Revolving fund lending under $150,000 through eight mission-driven lenders to founders who can’t get conventional financing. Runs through 2032.
CDFI Community Development Financial Institution. Treasury-certified lender serving underserved communities. More flexible on collateral and stage than conventional lenders.
CHFA Colorado Housing and Finance Authority. Manages Cash Collateral Support and several other OEDIT lending programs.
SSBCI State Small Business Credit Initiative. Federal program that recapitalized several of Colorado’s lending programs post-pandemic.
WORKING CAPITAL Money for day-to-day operations — payroll, inventory, suppliers. The most common cash gap for seasonal outdoor brands.
COLLATERAL Assets pledged to secure a loan. Banks favor real estate; outdoor brand inventory is typically discounted heavily or not accepted.
CREDIT ENHANCEMENT State mechanism that reduces lender risk — a cash deposit pledged alongside a loan so the lender will approve what they otherwise wouldn’t.
REVOLVING FUND A fund where repayments are recycled to fund new loans. As early CSLF borrowers repay, capital deploys to the next generation of founders.
YVEC Yampa Valley Entrepreneurship Center. Free business counseling in Steamboat Springs since 1999, now under RCEDP.
RCEDP Routt County Economic Development Partnership. Operates YVEC and supports entrepreneurship across the Yampa Valley.