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Southeast Kansas aspiring entrepreneurs, this microgrant program is for you!

Applications for Strengthening Entrepreneurship & Economic Development (SEED) open August 15!

Eight applicants will be selected for mentorship, coaching, hands-on business experience, regional connections, and a $1,000 grant upon program completion.

Have an idea but no business plan, license, sales, or experience? Perfect. That’s who SEED is designed to support!

📅 Applications open August 15
📅 Applications close September 1
📅 Participants announced September 15

SEED is supported by the SEK Leadership Roundtable and made possible through HBCAT’s Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Pathways to a Healthy Kansas and @kansashealthorg and Kansas Food Action Network grants.

Watch for the application link August 15!

SEED is supported by the local networks represented through the SEK Leadership Roundtable. Together, these partners are building a stronger, more connected support system for entrepreneurs across Southeast Kansas.

Not ready for SEED but need help with your business? Visit the link in our bio to request support!

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Community vision. Community investment. Community impact. 🌻

We’re excited to celebrate a $50,000 #BCBSKSPathways grant that will provide the match for a $200,000+ CDBG grant to improve Mapleton’s parks, sidewalks, and trails!

Our Local Health Equity Action Team (LHEAT) identified Mapleton as a priority community, and now that vision is becoming reality.

This is what community-driven change looks like. 💙

Thank you to everyone who helped make it happen!

#BCBSKSPathways #HealthyBourbonCounty #MapletonKS #HealthyCommunities CommunityDevelopment RuralKansas ParksAndTrails LHEAT

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In good company 🫶🏼

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Prom 2026 🤍💚🩶

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In July 2025, Rural Community Partners, in partnership with The Healthy Bourbon County Action Team's Local Health Equity Action Team (LHEAT) and their #BCBSKSPathways grant, began working alongside the City of Mapleton clerk and LHEAT member Jennifer Epting Williams, along with Friends of Mapleton’s Greg Post, to help the city of about 96 residents become eligible to apply for a CDBG grant and receive matching funds for trail improvements and park upgrades.
What sounds simple on paper was anything but. The SAM.gov enrollment process required locating documents like the Articles of Incorporation, validating governance and authorization documents, and navigating federal compliance systems that small rural cities are rarely staffed or resourced to manage on their own. It took months of persistence, coordination, and problem-solving.
Today, the City of Mapleton is officially active in SAM.gov. This milestone opens the door to funding opportunities that were previously out of reach and allows the community to move forward with long-planned park and trail improvements.
This is the behind-the-scenes work Rural Community Partners does every day across Southeast Kansas, so rural communities can access resources, leverage matching funds, and turn local vision into action.
👉 Communities interested in hands-on support can learn more and sign up for services at:
🌐 https://www.ruralcommunitypartners.org/get-support

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Every entrepreneur starts with an idea.
What turns that idea into something real is proof, grit, mentorship, and the right resources.

If you are ready to build, grow, or explore a new business dream, we are here to support your next step.

We are also looking for mentors who want to share what they know. Mentors are paid $50 per hour. If you are interested, email Jody at Jody@hbcat.org

Keep shaping what comes next.

#EntrepreneurLife #RuralEntrepreneurs #GritAndGrowth #RCP #MentorshipMatters

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Match Week was a win for all of Southeast Kansas! Our regional cohort showed up strong and so did our community.

Because of you, we raised more than $8,000 for the SEK Small Business and Entrepreneur Fund. Your support helps @healthybbcounty, @livewellcrawfordcounty, GrowLabette, Montgomery LHEAT, and the Small Business and Entrepreneurs Council keep building local businesses and local opportunity.

Big things start small and they start with you. 💛

#MatchWeek #SEKStrong #SupportLocal #RuralEntrepreneurs

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Happy Monday before Thanksgiving, friends! 🦃✨

As we head into a week of gratitude, all of us at Rural Community Partners are especially thankful for:
💼 The small business owners who keep showing up and taking risks
🤝 The mentors and partners who share their time, wisdom, and encouragement
🏠 The families and neighbors who choose to shop local and invest in Southeast Kansas

Your support is what turns ideas into real jobs, real storefronts, and real opportunity for our rural communities.

This week, as you plan your Thanksgiving shopping and Small Business Saturday stops, we invite you to:
👉 Shop local first
👉 Thank a small business owner
👉 Tag your favorite local business in the comments so others can discover them

From our RCP family to yours, thank you for believing in the power of growing our own. 💚

#ShopLocalSEK #RuralCommunityPartners #GratefulForSEK

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Forever thankful for my amazing friends 🥂

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Support local. Double the difference. Your donation this week supports real entrepreneurs, childcare providers, grocers, and farmers 💪 Every dollar matched through Friday!
https://www.sekgives.org/nonprofits/sekbizsupport
Your donation this week supports real entrepreneurs, childcare providers, grocers, and farmers 💪
Every dollar donated through SEK Gives is matched by the Patterson Family Foundation, doubling your impact to strengthen small businesses across Bourbon, Crawford, Labette, and Montgomery Counties.
➡️ Donate here: https://www.sekgives.org/nonprofits/sekbizsupport

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We have programs that help people afford childcare, food, and housing — but what support do we have for our farmers, grocery stores, childcare providers, and small businesses that sustain our communities?

That’s why we’re building the SEK Business Support Endowment, created to lift up the same people who keep Southeast Kansas going strong.

🌟 Match Week is coming up November 10–14!
Every dollar donated through SEK Gives is matched by the Patterson Family Foundation, doubling your impact.

Your gift helps fuel growth, empower business, and strengthen our local economy — right here at home. 💚

#RuralCommunityPartners #SEKGives #MatchWeek #ShopLocal #SupportSmallBusiness #SEKansas

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WOW!!! 26 people across 4 SEK counties attended the Lunch + Learn: Social Media for Small Business!!! We had to pull out more tables!!! After the feedback we received—we will be doing this again!!! Everyone from government (shout out to Kansas Department of Commerce Courtney Halsey and City of Fort Scott Mary Wyatt!!) to corporate, to higher education Fort Scott Community College!) to Fort Scott Farmers' Market, wine businesses, farms, service and product businesses….childcare…you name it folks!!
Brett Dalton was so informative and knowledgeable!!
Thanks to our funders—for almost tens years— hashtag#BCBSKSpathways, and our recent KDADS grant for making this community training a reality!!!
Building healthy thriving communities to enhance quality of life and encourage economic growth!!!

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