Larimer County and the City of Fort Collins are excited to announce a new initiative aimed at helping local businesses grow and thrive. The Local Industry Grant Hire, Train, Retain (LIGHTR) program offers a $3,000 grant to businesses with 2-50 employees to assist with employee training, certification and development.

The LIGHTR Program supports local companies in remaining competitive by providing financial assistance for employee professional development and upskilling including tuition, certifications and testing costs. The application period starts March 5, 2026 and applications will be reviewed on a first-come first-serve basis.

Mobile food businesses have become a popular and more affordable way to get a small business off the ground. But they also involve unique industry challenges in an evolving and competitive landscape. In this 4-part workshop, find out all of the important information and considerations that should be made prior to opening your own mobile food business and how to avoid costly startup mistakes.

•  April 6-27
•  Mondays, 11:00 a.m.
• Online

Join us for an in-person or online training to learn about the required commercial and residential energy code Performance Path to Zero Carbon Building.

There is no cost to attend.

The Performance to Zero Carbon Building Appendices apply to all new commercial and residential buildings. These code provisions have modified the traditional cost compliance metric in the simulated performance code paths to energy use per square foot and carbon emissions (CO2e) targets. “New Code Previews” available HERE.

In-person:

• April 15, 2:30 p.m. MST
  • 222 Laporte Ave, Fort Collins, CO 80521
  • Colorado River Community Room
  • Please arrive early as capacity is limited to 80 people

Online:

• April 15, 2:30 p.m. MST
  • Accessed HERE
• April 29, 2:00 p.m. MST
  • Accessed HERE

Questions? zerocarboncode@fortcollins.gov

In celebration of Small Business Week, we’re excited to bring back the Unstoppable Business Conference. Join us for a full day of educational sessions designed to move your business forward. With expert‑led sessions tailored to real‑world challenges, you won’t just hear about growth—you’ll define what it looks like for you and walk away with the tools to make it happen. Are you ready?

• Wednesday, May 6, 2026
• 8:30a.m.-4:30p.m.
• Embassy Suites by Hilton Loveland Conference Center

Early‑bird registration is open! 

If you are interested in sponsoring, please contact Hope Hartman at hope@larimersbdc.org

Come learn a new playbook about ways to relate to conflict and positively impact your community!

Conflict is part of everyone's life, everyone's family, everyone's neighborhood – and it can be hard. This training is for anyone interested in communication skills that support people in having tough conversations. Through this training you will learn to respond differently and practice skills that connect and create understanding rather than escalate and separate. This supports conflict resilience.

Training areas:

• Use a strengths-based approach
• Listen, reframe, reflect
• Ask open ended questions
• Identify common ground
• Practice restorative approaches

 Format: In-person

• Thursday, March 26, 2026, 5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
• Friday, March 27, 2026, 9:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
• Saturday, March 28, 2026, 9:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Our goal is to support our community (including business folks!) in becoming conflict resilient. This workshop is meant to provide folks with tangible skills to support themselves and others in navigating disputes and disagreements in new ways.

If you are interested, contact Dana Stewart via call/text at (970) 657-5298 or email dstewart@fortcollins.gov