Leadville business owners are getting a fresh shot at federal help as they try to dig out from a brutal stretch that combined a summer wildfire, a punishing drought and a winter so dry it kept visitors away before the fire even started. The U.S. Small Business Administration opened a Business Recovery Center inside the Lake County Public Library to help owners apply for economic injury disaster loans tied to either the Willow Fire or the drought.
According to Denver7, the SBA set up the center inside the library on Nov. 2 and recently decided to extend its stay through Nov. 30. Amber Carrillo, a public affairs specialist with the SBA's Office of Disaster Recovery, said one week would not have been enough time for businesses to make use of the center's services, which is part of why the agency opted to keep it open longer.
The Willow Fire ignited in June and prompted a disaster declaration, adding fresh strain on top of a winter that had already hurt Leadville's visitor numbers. Ann Stanek, who has owned HarperRose Gallery and Goods — a shop selling local and regional art and goods — for 12 years, said tourism is central to how Leadville's economy functions day to day.
A Dry Winter Set the Stage Before the Fire Even Started
Stanek said the lack of snow last winter reduced trip bookings and cut into foot traffic on Leadville's streets well before smoke ever became an issue. Denver7 reported that businesses in the area saw less traffic because of reduced tourism, the drought, and the fire-related road closures, building closures and evacuations that followed.
Those impacts show up starkly in numbers gathered elsewhere. Location data compiled for the local tourism and economic development office found Leadville had about 34% fewer out-of-market visitors than usual in July 2026, according to KSUT Public Radio. Separately, the Leadville Herald reported that Lake County visitation from June 27 to July 7 fell 26.5% year over year, with Leadville's main street down 19.2% and Twin Lakes down 38.9% over the same stretch — among the steepest declines in the area.
Sales Tax Dropped and Marquee Events Were Scrapped
The financial toll went beyond foot traffic. The Leadville Herald also reported that Lake County's June sales tax came in 30% below the prior year, a sign of how deeply the slowdown cut into local revenue. The same report noted the Leadville Race Series canceled both Silver Rush events, the Trans Rockies Race was canceled outright, and the Fourth of July Parade was postponed.
Not everything was scrapped — KSUT Public Radio reported that as of early August, the Leadville 100 bike and running races were still scheduled to go on, though organizers planned new routes to steer around the fire. Still, a Lake County survey found nearly nine in 10 responding businesses expected to operate under a financial shortfall for the following six months, underscoring how long the recovery is expected to stretch.
Where Business Owners Can Turn for Help
Carrillo said SBA customer service representatives at the recovery center can walk eligible businesses through each step of the economic injury disaster loan application. Sam Block, a client and program manager with the Colorado Small Business Development Center's Central Mountain Region, can also help guide applicants through the process, offering one-on-one assistance at each stage, he said.
The SBA is expected to leave Leadville by December, but the Colorado Small Business Development Center will remain in the community after the agency departs, giving business owners a continued local resource even once the federal office packs up. Stanek said Leadville's historic main street is beautiful, and that residents take pride in sharing the town with visitors — a sentiment that underscores why the slowdown has stung so deeply for longtime shop owners like her.
Local business-support and disaster-relief funds reflect efforts to supplement federal aid. For now, the clearest guidance on long-term relief points to the SBA's own loan terms: a snippet from the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management's disaster page lists July 23, 2027, as the filing deadline for an economic injury disaster loan tied to the declared disaster, while a separate notice from Lake County, Colorado states that interest does not begin accruing and payments do not start until 12 months after a loan's first disbursement, with final loan amounts, eligibility and repayment terms determined by the SBA based on each applicant's finances.
