Telluride, CO (November 30th, 2020) – The Telluride Foundation is excited to
announce the launch of the “Telluride Foundation Technical Assistance Innovation
Awards” on December 1, 2020. This grant program is in partnership with generous
donors from San Miguel County, Startup Colorado, First Southwest Community Fund,
and private donors of the Telluride Foundation.
The grant program is designed to enable small businesses and nonprofits
located in the Dolores, Montrose, Ouray, San Juan, and San Miguel counties to create
or improve their online presence through websites, social media, or sales platforms.
The Technical Assistance Awards are grants up to $2,000 for businesses to help
develop a new website or Facebook page, create a new sales platform, or implement
another needed technology. The Telluride Foundation has thoroughly vetted marketing
service providers from the region, who applicants will be partnered with if awarded the
grant money.
The idea to bring this grant program to the southwest Colorado region
originated from data collected by the Telluride Foundation’s Small Business Impact
Survey that was administered in July. The survey discovered that, out of nearly 200
survey respondents, 75% of small businesses did not have or utilize any type of digital
presence for their business (website, Facebook page, etc.). Capital and Transaction
Advisor for the Telluride Foundation, Bonnie Watson, recognized the problem revealed
by the survey data immediately. “In places like Telluride, Norwood, and Naturita, for our
rural main streets to survive this pandemic, they have to have a digital presence,” said
Watson. “We know the community wants to support small businesses and hopefully
with this program, we can help them continue to generate revenue by creating a digital
presence.”
The Technical Assistance Innovation Award program will launch on
December 1 st , and the application will be open until December 9th at 5:00 p.m. Small
businesses and nonprofits located in Dolores, Ouray, Montrose, San Juan, and San
Miguel counties are encouraged to apply. Award decisions will be made on December
16 th , and awardees will be notified by December 18th. If you would like to learn about
or apply for the grant program, please visit the Telluride Foundation Small Business
Technical Assistance Innovation Awards application here. Please, email Bonnie
Watson at bonnie.watson.colorado@gmail.com for questions about the grant program.
The Telluride Foundation exists to create a stronger Telluride and regional
community through the promotion and support of philanthropy. 2020 marks 20 years of
making more possible through the Telluride Foundation’s commitment to enrich the
quality of life of the residents, visitors, and workforce of the Telluride region. The
Telluride Foundation is a nonprofit, apolitical community foundation that makes grants to
nonprofits, owns and operates programs that meet emerging and unmet community
needs, and makes investments. The Foundation approaches this work through the lens
of its core values of inclusion, self-reliance, and innovation. Its work is funded through
the generous support of individual donors as well as grants from state and national
foundations. The Foundation hopes the community will join it in celebrating its 20th
anniversary as it honors the nonprofits, donors, and community members who have all
partnered together to achieve a significant positive impact on the region. For more
information click on www.telluridefoundation.org.
