StartUp Hutch Awards First Rural Business Microgrant to Arlington’s Main Street Bodega

Funding will help Arlington’s new essentials store add cold goods for local residents

Rural Reno County residents will soon have greater access to everyday essentials as Main Street Bodega prepares to open on Main Street in Arlington.

StartUp Hutch has awarded the first Rural Business Resilience & Expansion Initiative Microgrant to Main Street Bodega founder Amy Allbright. The $2,500 grant will help purchase a cooler so the store can offer cold goods such as milk and other refrigerated essentials.

Allbright and her husband purchased and renovated a building on Arlington’s Main Street to create an essentials corner store serving the surrounding community. The project brings new life to an existing commercial space while helping meet a practical need for local residents.

“Congratulations to Amy as the first recipient of this microgrant,” said Graham Klemme, executive director of StartUp Hutch. “Main Street Bodega is exactly the kind of investment this initiative was created to support—one that responds to direct community needs in rural Reno County. We’re proud to play a small part in helping Amy bring this idea to life in Arlington.”

Allbright is also the founder of Tina’s Blooms, a floral business created in memory of her daughter, Tina, who was killed in combat.

StartUp Hutch’s Rural Business Resilience & Expansion Initiative Microgrants support existing small businesses in rural Reno County communities. Eligible businesses may apply for grants of up to $2,500 to support business expansion, activate underutilized spaces, strengthen essential services or address gaps within their communities.

Applications remain open and are accepted on a rolling basis. Rural business owners with ideas large or small are encouraged to apply.

Apply for a Microgrant