Troy and Heather Leak, owners of the The Market, celebrate the grant award with Bank President Shane Pilarski, Commercial Banker Samantha Tabert, and Relationship Manager Brenda Charlesworth.
Alliance Bank is proud to announce it has secured a $20,000 grant for The Market by Midwest Prime Farms through the Elevate Small Business Grant (“Elevate”) program from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis. The dollars will be used to build a commercial kitchen in The Market’s new location on the historic Oxford Town Square.
Troy and Heather Leak leased space to open The Market in October 2023. The storefront is an extension of their locally-raised meat company Midwest Prime Farms. Read the story of their business’ growth and purchse of their new building on their blog.
This vacant section on the west side of the Oxford Town Square will be activated into The Market’s new location.
“We are so honored and deeply grateful to Alliance Bank and the FHL Bank of Indianapolis for selecting us for this grant and believing in our small-town vision.” Heather continued, “Earlier this year, we purchased a historic building on Oxford’s town square that had been sitting empty for many years. This grant will help us bring it back to life by adding a full commercial kitchen to our farm-to-table market and café. It’s an exciting step forward that allows us to expand our menu, create jobs, and continue revitalizing our downtown community.”
Elevate Small Business Grants are awarded by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis through its member financial institutions. Member institutions apply for the grant on behalf of their small business customers. Eligible applications are awarded up to $20,000 in funds to support the growth and development of small businesses.
“The Elevate grant is a rare opportunity to secure grant money for local businesses,” explained Bank President Shane Pilarski. “As The Market prepares to move into a building formerly owned by the Bank, this moment feels “full circle” for us. We are honored to be part of Troy and Heather’s story and appreciate their entrepreneurial spirit and investment in the Oxford Town Square.”
Elevate is available annually through participating member financial institutions of FHLBank Indianapolis. FHLBank Indianapolis does not award funds directly to small businesses. Business owners who are interested in the program must work with a participating member financial institution to access grant funds. Eligible businesses must be headquartered in Indiana or Michigan, have been in continuous operation for at least one year and earn less than $1M in annual gross revenue. Full program requirements can be found at http://www.fhlbi.com/elevate. In 2025, FHLBank Indianapolis committed $3M in funds for the program.
