Gov. Bill Ritter launched two new loan programs Tuesday to help renewable-energy companies and those making energy-efficiency improvements to their buildings.
One is a revolving loan program, funded with $13 million in federal stimulus money, being offered to companies making large-scale retrofits of buildings or doing business in the renewable-energy sector. The other is a $1 million program, funded with stimulus money from the U.S. Department of Energy, to help companies making smaller-scale energy retrofits to receive private loans.
The programs, Ritter said, “are smart tools to boost the economy because they focus on a bright spot in our economy: clean-energy jobs.”
The first company to receive a loan through the larger program was Bach Composite Colorado, a Fort Lupton-based supplier to Vestas, the Danish maker of wind turbines that has substantial operations in Colorado. Bach received a $3.26 million loan, which will help the company hire about 20 workers and keep its existing 130 workers employed, said Sabrina McLaughlin, financial controller for Bach.
“It takes money to make money,” McLaughlin said. “Without this program, it would have looked pretty bad for us at this moment. This loan has been critical.”
The company’s parent, the BC Group of Denmark, spent cash to buy a facility in 2009, hire workers and start operations in Colorado, McLaughlin said. Bach also has received a $500,000 loan from Upstate Colorado, an economic-development group in Greeley.
The $13 million loan program is called the Governor’s Energy Office Revolving Loan Program. The Colorado Housing and Finance Authority is administering the program, which will make loans of $100,000 or more.
The $1 million program is called the Green Colorado Credit Reserve program, and it’s an extension of the existing Colorado Credit Reserve program, which has helped 171 Colorado businesses obtain loans of nearly $6 million. Officials expect the new program to help more than 160 businesses obtain $7 million in loans.
The loans can be up to $100,000. Private lenders participating in the program receive a 15 percent loan-loss reserve contribution for every loan.
Greg Griffin: 303-954-1241 or ggriffin@denverpost.com
