I am the current General Manager of The Marmaton Market Inc. which is a small rural grocery store in Moran KS. We are member owned and operate on cooperative principles. The store is located in a food desert with a population of elderly, low income, and limited resources including transportation. The store was purchased in 2018 and revamped and reopened in the fall of 2018. I was elected to the Board of Directors in January 2019. The store was struggling and I agreed to step off of the Board on January 1st 2020 to replace a General Manager to evaluate what was working and what was not working. I immediately tackled the inventory and pricing as well as product selection as well as employee behaviors. I have been in the position since that time. I have a Bachelors in Business with a minor in Accounting and had never worked in a grocery store before. Although I had worked previously as a cashier at a convenience store. Since taking over the position of General Manager I have worked to procure grants and other funding to improve the store as well as equipment in the store. I was awarded a grant to build a commercial kitchen in the store which now sells meals as well as grab and go items. I also have been involved with several programs that support small independent grocers such as the Rural Grocery Initiative and Kansas Healthy Foods Initiative. They have been of great assistance in helping me learn the grocery side of the business. I have spent many hours developing several tactics to bring people through the door as well as increase basket sizes to maximize profits. We have gone from almost closing the doors in January 2020 to being able to turn a small profit over the past 3 year. I have had to develop marketing strategies to meet the needs of a rural community with a very limited budget. I also have had to search out and utilize alternative vendors for the products we carry in the store.