The Route 66 Extraordinary Women Initiative, under the auspices of the Route 66 Road Ahead Partnership, now is taking applications for up to $2,500 grants for women-owned businesses along the historic highway.
According to a news release from the partnership:
Businesses and attractions located directly on an alignment of Route 66, that are owned or operated by women may apply for EW Micro-Grants. Both nonprofit and for-profit organizations are eligible. Mobile operations that serve the Mother Road, such as tour operators, food trucks, and suppliers with Route 66 as their sales territory are also eligible.
Grant applications must be received by midnight (central time), April 30, 2021. Awards will be announced by May 14, 2021, and grants distributed no later than May 28, 2021. Interested parties can download the grant application, guidelines, and other resource materials at http://route66roadahead.com/resources/.
This round of EW Micro-Grant projects will be reviewed based on their economic impacts. Projects that help keep in operation businesses or attractions owned/operated by women, or help them reopen, as well as projects that support the opening of new women-owned or operated businesses/attractions will be considered. Other considerations include projects that provide matching funds, how well the project reflects the spirit of Route 66, a project’s impact on its community, and listing on, or qualification for, the National Register of Historic Places.
The grants will come from a pool of $10,000 raised for the initiative.
The Route 66 Extraordinary Women Initiative, announced several months ago, and its micro-grant program are part of the partnership’s five-year “Party with a Purpose” to celebrate Route 66’s centennial in 2026.
On the Route 66 Extraordinary Women task force are:
- Sharlene Fouser, coordinator of Arizona’s Historic Route 66 All-American Road
- Nikki Seegers, director of operations, Historic Route 66
Association of Arizona - Beth Murray, photographer, preservationist and California Historic
Route 66 Association board member - Jo Murray, journalist
- Teri Ryburn, owner and operator of Sprague Super Station
- Casey Wichmann, executive director of Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway
- Renee Charles, president of Kansas Route 66 Association
- Ruth Keenoy, community development specialist, City of St.
Louis - Jill Sullivan, director of Post Art Library in Joplin, Missouri
- Audra Bellmore, associate professor for The Center for Southwest
Research, University of New Mexico - Emily Stovel, director of Bernalillo Community Museum
- Melvena Heisch, retired deputy of Oklahoma State Historic Preservation Office
- Elizabeth Ellison, president and CEO of Lobeck-Taylor Family Foundation in Tulsa
- Kathy Taylor, former Tulsa mayor
- Dora Melroney, owner and operator of Texas Ivy Antiques in Amarillo
The support team for the group comprises Nancy Finegood, consulting associate of The Sweeney Group; Jodi Sweeney, president of The Sweeney Group; and Bill Thomas, chairman of the Route 66 Road Ahead Partnership.
(Image of Rock Cafe owner Dawn Welch posing for a photo with a family at the restaurant in Stroud, Oklahoma, by Patabelena via Flickr)