DES MOINES, Iowa — Rural grocery stores have two weeks to apply for a grant of up to $25,000 to update technology or adopt new service models.

The grant is being offered by the Iowa Economic Development Authority‘s Empower Rural Iowa initiative. Each year, they research needs in rural communities, and this year they concluded that many independent groceries are struggling.

The director of Empower Rural Iowa, Robin Bostrom, said that many independent grocery stores are closing across the state. And with heightened food insecurity in rural Iowa, grocery stores play important roles in addressing the issue. As a result, they started a program allocating $200,000 in grants to grocery stores that apply.

“In our rural areas, we have a lot of our more elderly population that maybe don’t have the opportunity to travel to a larger community. Also, the rural grocery stores, they kind of are that anchor business in a smaller community and they help provide jobs and keep that wealth in a community if they can stay open and operating. So, we just want to make sure we’re not creating more food deserts across the state,” said Bostrom.

Applicants can request up to $25,000. The grant money can be used to update technology like digital marketing or self-checkout machines, for example, or to adopt new approaches to their service delivery, like online services.

These are the requirements to apply:

The store must have been in business for at least three years

It must be located in a community with a population less than 20,000

It cannot border a community with a population greater than 40,000

The store must match, with their own funds, 50% of the grant total they request to undergo their upgrades/project.

The deadline to apply is October 25th and funding decisions will be released by November 25th.

The application is on Iowa Grants. Click here for more information on the grant and application.