Colorado is facing massive budget shortfalls due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This puts the flagship funding program for life sciences in Colorado at risk. The Advanced Industries Accelerator Grant Program will be reviewed by the state legislature’s Joint Budget Committee on Monday.

CBSA needs members of our life sciences ecosystem to email members of the Joint Budget Committee asking them to retain full funding for the Advanced Industries Accelerator Grant Program. Here’s what we are asking you to do:

• Reach out to members of the Colorado State Legislature’s Joint Budget Committee using our letter writing tool.
• Add specifics about your success story if you have received an Advanced Industries Accelerator Grant.
• Include any information about what your company is doing to support the fight against COVID-19.
• Send your emails by Sunday, May 3 at 5 p.m.

The Advanced Industries Accelerator Grant Program is a critical source of non-dilutive funding for bioscience and our state’s other designated advanced industries. Proposed cuts would wipe out $7.1 million dollars for the next fiscal year, more than half of the program’s budget.

• This program has provided more than 450 grants to our life sciences ecosystem and generated more than $972 million in follow-on grants and investments.
• It’s an economic engine for the state, creating 81 new companies and 975 direct jobs in the life sciences.
• The program has brought over $794 million into the state through outside investment.
• The advanced industries are key drivers of both the U.S. and Colorado economies accounting for nearly 30 percent of the state’s total wage earnings, 30 percent of the total sales revenue, and almost 35 percent of the state’s total exports.