November 6, 2025 (DES MOINES, IA) — The Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) today awarded $950,000 in Main Street Iowa Challenge Grants to 10 communities across the state. The grants help rehabilitate underutilized downtown buildings to stimulate economic growth and further investment in Iowa’s historic main streets.

Projects include:

• Corning — The City is receiving a $100,00 grant for a local match of $437,530 toward a total project cost of $537,520, to rehabilitate an historic building to house a health-focused grocery store, addressing local demand for fresh, wellness-oriented foods. The project will create new jobs and serve as a model for improving food access in rural communities.
• Guthrie Center is receiving a $50,000 grant toward restore a vacant historic building with a renewed brick façade, new windows and doors, updated systems and a refreshed interior. The finished space will be ready for a future tenant, supporting reinvestment and renewed activity in the downtown core. The grant requires a local match of $70,000 for the $120,000 project cost.
• Manning is receiving a $100,000 Main Street Challenge Grant with a $137,200 local match toward the total project cost of $237,200, for the second phase of a project. Following a full interior renovation that brought new businesses
  to the space, the second phase will repair the building’s deteriorated exterior and add a daylit basement apartment.
  Specialized masonry work will ensure the building’s historic character is preserved

“These projects are examples of the creativity and persistence we see in communities across Iowa,” said Debi Durham, director of IEDA and the Iowa Finance Authority. “When we invest in our main streets, we’re investing in the places where people come together — where entrepreneurs get their start, where families build memories and where the character of our communities truly shines.”

The grants are administered through IEDA’s Iowa Downtown Resource Center and Main Street Iowa programs. The funding will be distributed to the selected projects in the form of matching grants to their local Main Street programs. The estimated total cost of these 10 projects is nearly $3.6 million.

“These grants give a significant boost to excellent ideas that might not get off the ground otherwise,” said Jim Engle, director of the Iowa Downtown Resource Center. “Each completed project lifts the entire district — when you see lights back on in an upper floor or a storefront filled again, it sends a strong signal that good things are happening, and more are on the way.”

Since the first Challenge Grants were awarded in 2002, more than $16.5 million in funding has leveraged nearly $73.5 million in further investment. Read about the other cities and their projects here: file:///C:/Users/Owner/Downloads/MSI_2025ChallengeGrants_FINAL-1.pdf