A nonprofit business lender, the Colorado Enterprise Fund, announced Wednesday it is offering special loan terms and workshops to help small businesses impacted by this summer's wildfires in Larimer and El Paso counties.

CEF’s Fire Impact Recovery Effort (FIRE) program is partnering with the Larimer County Small Business Development Center to offer a series of free workshops to help attendees recover lost business by developing strategies to attract new customers.

One-on-one business consulting sessions also will be available at the SBDC, also at no cost.

CEF said it also will offer reduced-rate FIRE loans with flexible qualification requirements for fire-impacted businesses seeking a micro loan to aid recovery.
“CEF always has provided special support services to our loan clients,” said CEO Ceyl Prinster.  “But in our last board meeting we decided we needed to respond quickly with a special lending program to help businesses hurt by the fires, as well as to provide advisory support whether they borrow money from us or not.
The workshops begin on Friday, July 27, and are repeated on the next two subsequent Fridays, Aug. 3 and 10.  Sessions begin at 9:30 a.m. each day, and will be held at Larimer County Small Business Development Center facilities in downtown Fort Collins. Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis at www.larimersbdc.org via the workshops link.