COLORADO SPRINGS — Accelerate COS, a partnership between the City of Colorado Springs and the nonprofit Exponential Impact, was announced on Wednesday to help small business owners. The program allows local business owners to apply for two different sets of low-interest loans.
To qualify, the local business must have less than 50 employees and bring in less than 2 million dollars in revenue per year. If they qualify, they can apply for a microloan of up to $10,000 and a growth loan of up to $50,000.
"The primary goals of the program are to accelerate growth, provide capital and expertise to local businesses, and create and retain jobs," said Mayor of Colorado Springs John Suthers.
Local business owner Lawrence Wagner is excited about the opportunity. He's expressed concerns about being able to apply for the loans that he needed to get his business started.
"I think it's gonna be a game changer," said Wagner. "A lot of times, investors want you to be so far in your business, it's hard to get business loans".
Wagner is the CEO and Founder of Spark Mindset, a company that helps connect veterans, women, and people of color with cybersecurity jobs.
"There's going to be 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs by 2027. And there's actually 40,000 cybersecurity jobs open in Colorado right now," he continued.
Wagner has received support from a previous program from Exponential Impact in the past. He says that the mentorship and skills learned from the company were invaluable.
"They don't just give you the money, they actually train you and give you training on ways that you can actually accelerate your business with the money. I think that's just as important as the capital".
You can apply online through this link. Applications close on June 16th.
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