NEW MEXICO ROUTE 66 ASSOCIATION
  • ABOUT
    • About >
      • eNewsletter
    • Leadership
    • Committees
    • Roadside Attraction Sign Project
    • Grants
    • Preservation Projects >
      • Ambassador Program
      • Tucumcari Neon Repair
      • Tucumcari Updates
    • Heritage Awards >
      • Nominations Form
    • Donate
    • Contact
  • NEWS
  • FEATURES
  • MEMBERSHIP
    • Join or Renew
    • Magazine
  • TRAVEL / EVENTS
    • Events
    • Plan Your Trip
    • Business Directory
    • Route 66 Associations
    • Native American Communities
    • Motor Tour >
      • Gallery
  • CENTENNIAL
  • SHOP

NEWS

Backing Historic Small Restaurant Grant Program

5/15/2025

 
This year, 50 historic small restaurants across the country will each receive a $50,000 grant.

Now in its fifth year, American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation are once again supporting 50 small or independently owned restaurants across the country through the Backing Historic Small Restaurants grant program. Each restaurant—all places that contribute to their neighborhood's unique history and identity—will receive $50,000 in funding to help them improve their businesses and positively impact their communities.

Grant applications and public nominations will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. ET on May 30, 2025.

Since it began, the Backing Historic Small Restaurants grant program has granted nearly $5.7 million to 130 historic restaurants (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024) to help restaurants address critical needs amid ongoing economic challenges. This critical financial support helps small restaurant owners better navigate economic challenges, disasters, or other hardships so that their establishments' legacies can continue.

Restaurant Enthusiasts: Historic small restaurants—tangible connections to our communities’ histories—face ongoing economic challenges. Submit your favorite spot today to help save it for years to come. Nominate

Restaurant Owners: Owners can apply today for a $50K grant to address their restaurant’s critical needs. Apply

May 12: Application Launch
May 30: Applications Due
Late June: Applicants Notified
July: Recipients Announced

More Information
Picture

Route 66 Extraordinary Women Micro-Grants

5/21/2024

 
The Program is one in a series of “birthday gifts” to be given to Route 66 in the years leading up to the historic road’s one-hundredth birthday in 2026. The Route 66 Extraordinary Women Micro-Grant Program provides critical and flexible funding to businesses and attractions located along Route 66 that are majority women-owned or operated.

The Route 66 Extraordinary Women Micro-Grant Program is funded in part by a grant from the Preserve Route 66 Grant Fund of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. In addition to direct fundraising efforts undertaken by the Road Ahead, the public may make direct donations to the Extraordinary Women Micro-Grant Program online (https://100extraordinarywomen.com/route-66-extraordinary-women-initiative/).

Established in 2016, with the support of the National Park Service and the World Monuments' Fund, The Route 66 Road Ahead Partnership’s mission is to revitalize and sustain Route 66 as a national and international icon through partnerships focused on promotion, preservation, research and education, and economic development.

The next round of The Route 66 Extraordinary Women Micro-Grant Program will begin July 5, 2024. Program guidelines, criteria, and applications will be available at: https://roadahead.route66centennial.org/.  Up to 10 grant awards of $2,000 each will be made in the next round of the program. 

The Route 66 Road Ahead Partnership is pleased to announce ten grant awards from its Extraordinary Women Micro-Grants Program. The 2024 round of the Micro-Grant program was completed last month, with $2,000 awards made to:

  • Flora May Cordova – Route 66 Welcome Center & Gift Shop, Tucumcari, NM - Restore the neon sign atop the column outside the Route 66 Welcome Center and Gift Shop.
  • Heather Arnold – Routes Rentals & Tours, Albuquerque, NM - Enhance guest experiences and accessibility at Routes Rentals & Tours, Inc by installing new rental/rate menu boards in both English and Spanish, along with a new digital menu board that will cycle through tour offerings.
  • Noelle Sosaya – Rat House Vintage, Albuquerque, NM - Enhance this business by building a new counter for the shop's register, constructing new apparel racks/shelving, and painting a new exterior sign.
  • Sarah Ann Lesslie – Cocolita Chocolate Cafe, Flagstaff, AZ  - Purchase two new, single-door fridges for the chocolate shop, replacing the current  malfunctioning one.
  • Amy Stephens—Edmond History Museum, Edmond, OK - Install new logo signage on three sides of the building to help ensure visitors know where the Museum is.
  • Cindy Miller—Alley Katz Unique Emporium, Amarillo, TX - Install a new entrance ramp to ensure the shop is ADA-compliant.
  • Jenalyn Lorilla – Nomadic Coffee Project, Seligman, AZ - Build a new custom mobile Coffee Wagon designed to propel this coffee roasting business forward by marketing its products through working events along Route 66.
  • Becki Colon – Colonel Mustard Hot Dogs, Holbrook, AZ - Complete needed exterior repairs to the hotdog stand, including repairing its illuminated "Colonel Mustard" sign, glazing and sealing windows, and repairing the building's rain scuppers.
  • Alliessia Arnold – Stagecoach Motel, Seligman, AZ - Replace gravel in the motel's driveway and parking lot and purchase new outdoor furniture.
  • Vida Pazarin – HD Family Events - Friday Night Route 66 Market, Victorville, CA - Purchase equipment and supplies to host a series of night markets every Friday on a vacant lot in Victorville.

 The next round of The Route 66 Extraordinary Women Micro-Grant Program will begin July 5, 2024. Program guidelines, criteria, and applications will be available at: https://roadahead.route66centennial.org/. Up to 10 grant awards of $2,000 each will be made in the next round of the program.
Picture
Left: Flora May Cordova – Route 66 Welcome Center & Gift Shop, Tucumcari, NM. Center: Heather Arnold – Routes Rentals & Tours, Albuquerque, NM. Right: Noelle Sosaya – Rat House Vintage, Albuquerque, NM.
Picture

    PAST NEWS

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    July 2023
    April 2023
    June 2017

    Categories

    All
    Albuquerque
    Car
    Centennial
    Central Avenue
    Fast TV Network
    Gallup
    Grant Program
    Heritage Awards
    Legends Of Route 66
    Montoya
    Motel
    Motor Tour
    National Trust For Historic Preservation
    Neon
    New Mexico Route 66 Association
    New Mexico Route 66 Centennial Coordination Group
    Ozark Trail
    Restoration
    Restoration Project
    Road Ahead Partnership
    Route 66
    Santa Rosa
    Tucumcari
    U.S. Route 66 Centennial Commission
    Visitors Center

Picture
NEW MEXICO ROUTE 66 ASSOCIATION
1415 Central Avenue NE
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87106 USA
[email protected]    |    Contact Us    |    Donate

SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE eNEWSLETTER
© 2025 New Mexico Route 66 Association — all rights reserved.

  • ABOUT
    • About >
      • eNewsletter
    • Leadership
    • Committees
    • Roadside Attraction Sign Project
    • Grants
    • Preservation Projects >
      • Ambassador Program
      • Tucumcari Neon Repair
      • Tucumcari Updates
    • Heritage Awards >
      • Nominations Form
    • Donate
    • Contact
  • NEWS
  • FEATURES
  • MEMBERSHIP
    • Join or Renew
    • Magazine
  • TRAVEL / EVENTS
    • Events
    • Plan Your Trip
    • Business Directory
    • Route 66 Associations
    • Native American Communities
    • Motor Tour >
      • Gallery
  • CENTENNIAL
  • SHOP