Two Webster City small businesses were among the 20 that have been awarded more than $275,000 in grants from the Empower Rural Iowa Initiative.

La Perla Jarocha Store, in Webster City, and Wildcat Distilling Co., in Duncombe, were recipients of grant awards which were announced Thursday.

“Entrepreneurship in rural areas builds sustainable, resilient communities,” said Debi Durham, director of IEDA and the Iowa Finance Authority. “These grants help businesses continue to turn a profit and grow, while providing good-paying jobs and keeping wealth right at home.”

La Perla Jarocha Store, 611 Second Street, was awarded $18,315. The funding will allow the downton Webster City grocery store to add perishable goods, locally-sourced produce, and website and online ordering.

Wildcat Distilling Co. was awarded $5,000 which will allow it to add a larger boiler and improved processing room. Wildcat has a tasting room in downtown Webster City at 626 Second Street. That tasting room will move into The Elks building in the spring. The restored historic building is located at 713 Second Street,

Applications for the Empower Rural Iowa Initiative opened in September. Businesses were only eligible if they operated in a community of less than 20,000 people that is not close to a city with more than 40,000 people.

This year’s Rural Innovation Grants focused on independently owned grocery stores struggling to upgrade technology or adopt new service delivery models, small food producers, to assist in getting their products into new markets, and second-stage growth companies — those that have been operating for a few years with sales typically more than $1 million — that are looking to sell to markets outside Iowa, according to a media release.

More than 40 Iowa businesses sent in grant applications including 27 rural grocers, nine food producers, and four second-stage growth companies.