GRINNELL, Iowa — Perry will share in a $200,000 grant program for rural small businesses, the Iowa Rural Development Council (IRDC) announced Tuesday.
The IRDC said it selected four pilot projects for its Rural Business Initiative (RBI), an effort to support rural small businesses funded through a grant from the Wells Fargo Foundation, and the city of Perry was one of the projects.
The town suffered economic damage in June when the Tyson Fresh Meats plant closed, which employed more than 1,200 workers, but Perry’s small businesses faced challenges even before the factory closure, and the RBI grant will help to address those challenges.
“Perry seeks to revive a pandemic-era business grant program for small businesses in need of capital for products, services, marketing or improvements as well as providing invaluable connections to resources for skill building and networking,” said IRDC Executive Director Bill Menner.
Along with Perry, pilot RBI recipients include Minden, West Branch and a coalition of businesses in southeast Iowa. Menner said the successful rural applicants are located within 30 miles of a Wells Fargo bank branch, and each applicant proposed a plan to support existing small business, enhance entrepreneurship and expand the economic vitality of their rural area.
Menner said the IRDC will work with these communities and partners from local Wells Fargo bank branches, the Iowa Small Business Development Centers and the Iowa Center for Economic Success to assess the situation in each place. Collectively, strategies for training, capacity building and funding will be developed, he said.
“This is an outstanding opportunity, thanks to the Wells Fargo Foundation, for targeted support of small businesses in small towns,” said IRDC Board President Mark Reinig. “These four pilot places have creative concepts to address existing needs and ultimately impact the viability of local businesses and economies.”
The Iowa Rural Development Council is a statewide public-private non-profit organization focused on rural vitality and local capacity that will sustain and grow Iowa’s small towns. For more information, email Menner at director@iowardc.org.
