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Region 9 receives grant for SCAPE program

Marchino

Region 9 Economic Development District of Southwest Colorado, Inc. was awarded a “Rural Business Enterprise Grant,” or RBEG, through the United States Department of Agriculture to fund the Southwest Colorado Accelerator Program for Entrepreneurs, or SCAPE, according to a Region 9 news release.

Region 9 was awarded $60,000 from the USDA and is the only Colorado organization to receive the grant in the 2014 fiscal year, Region 9 said.

The funding is to help support the SCAPE program which offers in-depth mentoring, office space and an equity investment to help new ventures enter markets and raise capital.

Since beginning in 2013, the program has graduated six business ventures, creating eight jobs and leveraging $465,000 in investments, Region 9 said.

The program goal is to create and develop high growth, job creating companies in Southwest Colorado.

“SCAPE is an additional tool in the toolbox that identifies the emerging businesses that need intensive mentoring and capital investment to put them on the growth company track,” said Laura Lewis Marchino, assistant director of Region 9 Economic Development District of Southwest Colorado, in the news release. “We greatly appreciate USDA Rural Development for their support of such an innovative project in a rural area.”

Business proposals for the next SCAPE program, which starts in January, are being accepted until Nov. 23.

Contact SCAPE Director Elizabeth Marsh at emarsh@goscape.org or go to www.goscape.org for more information.

vguthrie@durangoherald.com



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