Colorado distributed its third and final round of Opportunity Now grants this week, capping a program that’s awarded $89.5 million since 2023 to public-private partnerships creating new ways to train state residents for careers in high-need occupations.
The final round of awards was the smallest — nearly $7 million given to eight projects expected to train 1,815 individuals specifically for jobs in the talent-short infrastructure and behavioral-health sectors. But it brings to a culmination a program conceived in a 2022 law and launched in 2023 that is expected to serve 20,000 Coloradans and that already has helped to get 5,000 into new jobs in sectors ranging from healthcare to construction to advanced industries.
State leaders aren’t done awarding Opportunity Now funds just yet, as a 2024 law created a tax credit, available from 2026 through 2032, for companies that invest in facility improvements and equipment acquisition to boost in-house worker training. That law also established the Opportunity Now Regional Talent Summits, a series of seven recently completed gatherings where employers and educators identified the biggest talent-pipeline gaps and are developing two- and five-year plans to address them.
“Doubling down on workforce and talent development”
But the grant program preceded those efforts. It was meant to expand publicly funded workforce training beyond existing government programs by getting employers and trade associations to partner with schools and public agencies to propose new ways of preparing under-skilled Coloradans for needed jobs. Much of that training is ongoing, but Gov. Jared Polis and his top staffers said that after two years, they already are convinced that the return on investment for the 96 grants will be substantial.
“We know Colorado employers are looking for skilled workers, and as a state we are doubling down on workforce and talent development,” said Eve Lieberman, executive director of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade. “Ensuring our workers are equipped with the skills needed for today’s and tomorrow’s jobs is central to our commitment to building a strong, inclusive economy that benefits everyone.”
Officials distributed Opportunity Now grants in every region of the state to develop new pathways in getting people certified for jobs from teaching to manufacturing to quantum-computing production. But one of the final eight grants announced Wednesday serves as a prime example of how the state is leveraging taxpayer funds to seed and grow programs that are approaching skills development in new, non-government-centric ways.
Opportunity Now through the lens of CrossPurpose
CrossPurpose leaders and a recent program graduate pose with Gov. Jared Polis as he announces a new grant for the organization on Wednesday.
CrossPurpose, a nonprofit that works with people experiencing poverty to give them life and professional skills via six-month training programs, received a $49,000 planning grant in the program’s first phase to build partnerships with employers and move learners into jobs. A $1.8 million phase-two grant let it scale programs and boost the number of participants getting entry-level certifications into the medical and construction professions to become certified nursing assistants, medical assistants, solar installation technicians and more.
The third and final Opportunity Now grant awarded to the organization this week will allow it to enroll 160 people specifically in its infrastructure programs to get trained in HVAC, plumbing, welding, electrical work and more and move into full-time careers. But the $1 million grant also will support 100 people entering a new construction-focused program to boost their trade skills and move from entry-level employment to higher-paying jobs requiring more certification and education, helping them to afford to buy homes and begin to build generational wealth.
These grants have helped the program to grow from one to soon four locations in the metro area and expand its curriculum statewide, and they’ve helped CrossPurpose to operate at a larger scale and serve more people, said Josh Ryken, senior government liaison. And they have helped to open doors to employers who see the benefits of the program and in turn want to invest both in the nonprofit and in the workers graduating with trade skills.
“The investment has enabled us to train more workers and to serve more people more quickly,” Ryken said in an interview. “And it gives us credibility of having been able to work with the state on this.”
What’s next in Opportunity Now programs
Another infrastructure-sector grant in the latest round went to the Colorado River Board of Cooperative Educational Services, which is working with Habitat for Humanity Roaring Fork Valley to train people in sustainable modular-home construction techniques. Behavioral-health grants went to groups like Colorado Mountain College for its effort to boost mountain-area workers with industry-recognized credentials and to Colorado Autism Consultants, which is training clinicians for rural and under-resourced communities.
The two- and five-year plans coming from the regional talent summits, which concluded with a June 13 event in Colorado Springs, will detail more proposed public-private partnerships to ready individuals for high-need professions in different regions of the state. Though the law did not set up funding for those partnerships, it’s likely that Opportunity Now grant recipients will play a role through program expansion or through laying out the best practices they have learned and helping other organizations set up similar tracks.
“Across Colorado, good-paying jobs are available now,” Gov. Jared Polis said while announcing the final grants at an event at the Colorado School of Mines.