Iowa-based Templeton Distillery debuts Entrepreneur’s Grant for small businesses

Iowa-based Templeton Distillery will award three start-up small businesses grants of $10,000 each as part of its Templeton Distillery Entrepreneur’s Grant program.

Applicants are required to be based in the United States and must submit 250 words on their business. Entries, the company said in a news release, will be judged on originality — “How is your business creatively” meeting a need, the application asks — contributions to its community and business viability. Entrants cannot sell alcohol and its owners must be 21 or older.

Entries are to be submitted to the distiller’s website at https://templetondistillery.com/grant. Deadline will be July 11.

The grant program is “timed alongside the debut of Templeton’s new 10-Year Reserve Rye Whiskey,” the company said in a news release.

Judges will include distillery co-founder Keith Kerkhoff, Iowa-born actors Brandon Routh and Hill Harper, along with other business leaders.