The City of Fruita leads a regional team participating in the Colorado Rural Residency and Recovery Roadmap program.

Other partners in the team include the Business Incubator Center; City of Grand Junction; Colorado Mesa University;
De Beque School District; Downtown Grand Junction Partnership; Grand Junction, Fruita and Palisade chambers of commerce; Grand Junction Economic Partnership; Grand Junction Regional Airport Authority; Mesa County; Mesa County School District; Plateau Valley School District and the towns of Collbran, DeBeque and Palisade.

The Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, Colorado Department of Local Affairs and Colorado Department of Labor and Employment partnered to offer the program.

The program provides technical assistance for regional teams of rural communities to drive economic relief, recovery, diversification and long-term resilience. Funding comes from a $2.3 million U.S. Economic Development Administration grant.

“We are excited to have the 16 regional teams identified and begin working with them,” said Katharina Papenbrock, deputy director of rural opportunity at Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade.

“The economic impact of COVID-19 was especially felt in Colorado’s rural communities, where it exacerbated existing challenges for key industries, businesses and the local work force. This grant allows us to match our rural communities with the right resources and programs within OEDIT and our partners so that they can advance and realize their short- and long-term economic resiliency strategies.”