OEDIT grants $4 million to Colorado organizations

Infrastructure Funding Grants provide state funding to collaborative projects that will have a broad, industry-wide impact across one or more of Colorado’s Advanced Industries. Projects may provide workforce training, shared working space or equipment, or mentorship for Colorado companies.

Grantees: * Catalyst Campus, $750,000 – To help build IT infrastructure at the Catalyst Campus for Technology and Innovation for a state-of-the-art Cyber and Space Operations Center (CSOC) research laboratory.

* Manufacturer’s Edge & Stakeholders, $2,500,000 – To help build infrastructure that enables 3-D metals printing standardization and qualification for businesses of all sizes. Manufacturer’s Edge will facilitate a Colorado consortium between Ball Aerospace, Lockheed-Martin, Faustson, and Colorado School of Mines. An R&D center will be built at Mines, dedicated to performing applied research and creating database infrastructure needed to qualify printers and their parts.

* Telluride Foundation, $300,000 – Fort Lewis College and the Telluride Foundation received approval for funding for a two-year period to help implement a $1.5 million Southwest Innovation Corridor (SWIC) in the rural southwest corner of Colorado. SWIC will expand the high-tech innovation infrastructure in southwest Colorado by improving student understanding of entrepreneurial principles and processes through hands-on experience.

* SolarTAC, $500,000 – The proposed Accelerator Project at the Solar Technology Acceleration Center (SolarTAC), a 74-acre test site near DIA, will provide five acres of shared space and new infrastructure for validation and demonstration of advanced renewable energy components in a real-world outdoor test environment.

* Manufacturer’s Edge/SBDC, $300,000 – Manufacturer’s Edge and the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) have the tools and expertise to support manufacturers at this critical stage and want to be a pilot for the nation on a program designed to help these organizations expand and prosper. To better serve the industry’s most vulnerable sector, Manufacturer’s Edge and the SBDC are developing the Small Manufacturer’s Advantage (SMA) program to address these companies’ unique business challenges.

Grant applications are reviewed by committees that consist of business, technical and financial experts, and an industry-specific review. The strategic advisory board reviews and determines final recommendations with guidance from the Colorado Economic Development Commission.

About the Advanced Industry Accelerator Programs. The Advanced Industry Accelerator Programs (AIA) were created in 2013 to promote growth and sustainability in Colorado’s advanced industries by driving innovation, accelerating commercialization, encouraging public-private partnerships, increasing access to early-stage capital, and creating a solid infrastructure that increases the state’s capacity to be globally competitive. AIA encompasses three distinct grant programs: Proof of Concept, Early Stage Capital and Retention, and Commercialization Infrastructure.