As used in this article 30.5, unless the context
otherwise requires:
(1) Colorado economic development commission or commission means
the Colorado economic development commission created in section 24-46-102,
C.R.S.
(1.5) Colorado office of economic development or office means the
Colorado office of economic development created in section 24-48.5-101.
(2) Credit certificate means a statement issued by the commission
certifying that the new business or new hire qualifies for an income tax credit
allowed in section 39-30.5-105. The credit certificate shall not specify the amount
of the credit, but must specify that the new business or new hire is eligible for the
credit.
(3) Department means the department of revenue.
(4) Distressed county means a county with a population of less than two
hundred fifty thousand and that reflects indicators of economic distress such as:
(a) Per capita income that is substantially below the statewide average;
(b) Local gross domestic product or similar performance measures that are
substantially below the statewide average over the preceding five-year period;
(c) Unemployment levels that are substantially above the statewide average
over the preceding five-year period;
(d) A net loss of people of workforce age measured over the preceding five-year period, or a failure to recover from a loss over the preceding ten-year period; or
(e) A countywide concentration of pupils eligible for free lunch pursuant to
the federal Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, 42 U.S.C. sec. 1751 et
seq., greater than the statewide average concentration of pupils eligible for free
lunch.
(4.5) Economic development organization means a nonprofit organization
or governmental entity such as a small business development center, a business
accelerator or incubator, a workforce center, a local economic developer, or other
such organization or entity that promotes local economic development, but does
not include the commission or the office.
(5) Guidelines means the guidelines developed by the commission as
specified in section 39-30.5-104 (1).
(6) Municipality means a municipality as defined in section 31-1-101 (6),
C.R.S., with boundaries wholly or partly within the distressed county's boundaries.
(7) New business means a business that:
(a) Is not operating in the state at the time it submits its application to a
state institution of higher education to participate in the rural jump-start zone
program;
(b) Is not moving existing jobs into the rural jump-start zone from another
area in the state;
(c) Hires at least five new hires; except that, in a county with a population of
less than one hundred thousand, hires at least three new hires;
(d) Is not substantially similar in operation to and, at the time the new
business submits its application to participate in the rural jump-start zone program,
does not directly compete with the core function of a business that is operating in
the rural jump-start zone in which the new business will be located and in a
distressed county contiguous to the rural jump-start zone; and
(e) Adds to the economic base and exports goods and services outside the
distressed county.
(8) New hire means an individual who has performed labor or services in
the rural jump-start zone for the new business for more than six months from the
date hired and for which such individual receives a federal form W-2 and where the
job performed by the individual:
(a) Is either a full-time, wage-paying job or is equivalent to a full-time, wage-paying job requiring at least thirty-five hours per week; and
(b) Has a salary or compensation equal to or greater than the county average
annual wage.
(9) Rural jump-start zone means an area within the boundaries of a
distressed county that is either:
(a) In one or more incorporated portions of the distressed county if the
municipality provides the commission with a general resolution as described in
section 39-30.5-106 agreeing to provide incentive payments, exemptions, or credits
to offset the imposition of business personal property tax on and, if the municipality
wishes, to offset the imposition of any other municipal tax on all new businesses in
order to be a participant in the rural jump-start zone program;
(b) In one or more incorporated portions of the distressed county if the
municipality provides the commission with a limited resolution as described in
section 39-30.5-106 that indicates the municipality agrees to only provide incentive
payments, exemptions, or credits to offset the imposition of business personal
property tax on and, if the municipality wishes, to offset the imposition of any other
municipal tax on a specific new business in order to be a limited participant in the
rural jump-start zone program; or
(c) In the unincorporated portions of the distressed county.
(10) Rural jump-start zone program means the rural jump-start zone
program created in this article.
(11) State institution of higher education means a state institution of higher
education as defined in section 23-18-102 (10), C.R.S., a local district college, or an
area technical college that:
(a) Has a campus located in the distressed county; or
(b) Includes a distressed county in the community college's service area or
the regional education provider's service area.
(12) Tier one transition community means a coal transition community that
is located in a rural jump-start zone and that the office, with the concurrence of the
executive directors of the department of labor and employment and the
department of local affairs, determines has already experienced or is at risk of
experiencing significant economic disruption, the proximate cause of which is
either the closure or conversion of a coal-fueled electrical power generating plant
in Colorado or in a contiguous state or a sustained and likely permanent decline in
broader coal markets due to similar closures or conversions nationally and globally.