OEDIT presents FY25 Enterprise Zone annual report; state completes redesignation and adds caps on investment credits

The Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) presented the fiscal year 2025 annual report on Colorado'9s Enterprise Zone Program and described a redesignation of zone boundaries completed after a two-year process.

Jeff Kraft, deputy executive director of OEDIT, told the committee the redesignation process was required every 10 years and that new enterprise zone boundaries took effect on 07/01/2026; local administrators may submit grandfathering applications for businesses that made investments relying on prior boundaries. Kraft also noted a statutory change effective Jan. 1 that capped the amount an individual business can earn from the enterprise-zone investment tax credit at $2,000,000 absent a waiver, and that a business would need to invest at least $66,000,000 in qualified business personal property to reach that cap in a single year.

Chay Sheehan, senior program manager at OEDIT, outlined FY25 program activity: 4,835 businesses certified for enterprise zone tax credits (compared with 5,538 in FY24); more than $100 million in tax credits certified in the last 10-year look (FY25 just over $100 million certified); businesses reported about $2.8 billion invested in qualified business personal property under the 3% investment credit; 4,357 net new jobs were reported and incentivized by approximately $5.4 million in new-employee credits. Sheehan noted 26 vacant commercial buildings were certified for credits (maximum $50,000 per building).

OEDIT highlighted local examples: Adams County processed hundreds of applications and reported about 5,321 new jobs tied to enterprise-zone activity; the Southeast Enterprise Zone and South Metro Enterprise Zone saw sizable investment and coverage expansions after redesignation; the Denver Enterprise Zone prioritized certain neighborhoods within the city for program benefits.

Committee members asked clarifying questions about eligibility and boundaries. OEDIT staff explained zones must meet statutory eligibility criteria (economic distress measures such as lower per-capita income, slower population growth or higher-than-average unemployment) and that geographies can be defined down to census tracts or block groups. OEDIT said it will review grandfathering applications from businesses that invested under prior boundaries.

The enterprise zone report was presented as part of regular committee business and will be posted on OEDIT'9s and the auditor'9s websites along with other released reports.