City of Boulder Business Bulletin

Welcome to the City of Boulder Business Bulletin
Supporting businesses with timely updates, resources and opportunities

Stay up to date on the latest news, resources and opportunities for Boulder businesses. The Business Bulletin shares updates on city initiatives, funding opportunities, infrastructure projects and business resources to help you stay informed and prepared.

Visit our newsletter archive to explore past editions and stay up to date on what’s happening across the city.

As Boulder prepares to welcome the 2027 Sundance Film Festival, local businesses will play an important role in creating a successful experience for our community, visitors and the Festival.

Please join us for the next in a series of monthly virtual Boulder Business Community Roundtables designed to keep local businesses informed, connected and prepared in the months leading up to the Festival.

Save the date - a registration link to join the Zoom will be available soon.

Tuesday, Oct. 13
8:30 to 9:30 a.m. MST
Zoom

Upcoming Boulder Business Community Roundtables:

We hope you'll join us as we work together to prepare Boulder businesses for the 2027 Sundance Film Festival.

Presented in partnership by:

Sundance Film Festival • City of Boulder • Visit Boulder • Boulder Chamber • Downtown Boulder Partnership • Boulder SBDC • Latino Chamber • Boulder Restaurant Coalition 

Visit the Sundance Film Festival Partner Hub for additional business information.

Image credit: Junkyard Social Club, Community Mural Project, January 2026, photo by Nicole Todd

Community Foundation Boulder County, in partnership with Boulder County Arts Alliance and the City of Boulder, invite local artists and arts organizations to apply for funding to participate in Boulder B-Sides, a new pop-up art program that will activate vacant commercial storefronts and unexpected spaces throughout Boulder during the 2027 Sundance Film Festival (Jan. 21–31, 2027).

Approximately eight to 10 Boulder County artists or arts organizations will receive up to $15,000 in direct funding to produce public activations within the Sundance Film Festival footprint. The project is made possible by a grant to Community Foundation Boulder County and Boulder County Arts Alliance.

Activation spaces will be available Jan. 15–31, with a concentration of activations during the Festival’s world premiere period from Jan. 21–26, 2027.

Applications are open to Boulder County-based artists and arts organizations through 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9.

Power outages and single-use plastics create real costs for food service businesses, from spoiled food and lost revenue during outages to the rising cost of cups, containers and other disposable items.

The city’s Climate Initiatives Department is seeking input from food service businesses of all sizes about how power outages affect their operations and how they use single-use plastics and other disposables. Responses will help inform City Council’s next steps on power reliability and single-use plastics.

Complete the short questionnaire by Sept. 20 for a chance to win a $50 Visa gift card.

The survey is available in both English and Spanish.

Questions? Contact Deryn Wagner at wagnerd@bouldercolorado.gov.

September is Disaster Preparedness Month - is your business ready for the unexpected? 

The Colorado Small Business Development Center (SBDC) serving Boulder County offers a free Business Recovery and Resiliency Guide. This action-oriented guide provides tools and templates to help businesses prepare for, respond to and recover from a disaster. 

During an emergency, the city and county activate an emergency operations center (EOC) to coordinate operations and support the safety and security of the community. This includes mobilizing resources for transportation, evacuations and shelters, sharing information and coordinating with state and federal agencies. 

Learn more about the city’s emergency response.  

Under Senate Bill 20-200, Colorado businesses that have been operating for at least two years and have five or more employees are required to offer a qualified retirement savings plan or participate in an eligible program. Businesses that do not meet the requirement may face financial penalties beginning in 2027.

Employers must certify with the Colorado Department of the Treasury that they offer a qualifying plan. Colorado SecureSavings, a no-cost, state-run program, is one option for meeting the requirement.

Employers can enroll in Colorado SecureSavings through the registration page or certify under a different plan using their unique access code at ColoradoSecureSavings.com/exempt. If you don’t know your code, select the “Don't have an access code?" option and input your company's EIN number to request it. 

The Small Business Development Center (SBDC) serving Boulder County has several upcoming workshops designed to support our local business community:

See more information about upcoming workshops and register.

Register now for the Contract Opportunities Summit on Oct. 22 at the Boulder JCC. The Contract Opportunities Summit is a focused, half-day event designed to help small businesses understand how to do business with local municipalities across Colorado. The Summit offers a hands-on introduction to public-sector contracting, with a strong emphasis on opportunities in local government.

City of Boulder voters will be able to weigh in on several ballot measures in the Nov. 3, 2026, election. Ballot measures include:

We know ballot measures aren’t easy decisions and that each voter must weigh these measures carefully. To help you navigate these decisions, we have put together a guide to summarize the proposed measures.  

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