Past Award Winners

Bryanne Olsen, owner of Olsens Marketplace IGA in Ajo, AZ received the 2024 Rural Grocer of the Year Award. Bryanne's journey is one of dedication and adaptation. She started her career as a teacher. Then, after moving to Ajo—a small, rural town surrounded by the Sonoran Desert—she transitioned to running Olsens IGA with her husband, Don. Following his passing in 2016, Bryanne took the reins of their store and continues managing it today. The store is a lifeline for residents, providing essential groceries and supplies that are crucial in a remote setting.

Olsens IGA employs 30 local residents, many of whom have been part of the team for over a decade. But their store doesn’t stop at groceries. Understanding her community’s needs, Bryanne partnered with Ace Hardware to integrate a hardware section within her store. This strategic expansion not only diversified their product offerings but also made Olsen's IGA a destination for both grocery needs and specialty products. The hardware section, occupying four aisles, offers a variety of home improvement tools and camping essentials, catering to both locals and travelers passing through.

Time and time again, Bryanne and her team rise to the occasion to support their local community. For instance, during the COVID-19 pandemic, she swiftly organized the distribution of essential meat boxes through a partnership with the Cocopah Indian Nation. This initiative aimed to feed local elders who were particularly vulnerable when larger stores declined the opportunity to assist. Furthermore, Olsens IGA collaborates closely with the Ajo Center for Sustainable Agriculture's food bank, where she donates products.

In addition to her role as a business owner, Bryanne actively volunteers and advocates on behalf of independent grocers. For three years, she served as Chairperson of the Arizona Food Marketing Alliance Board of Directors, or AFMA. Under her leadership, AFMA embraced a new vision called CLEAR – which stands for Community, Legislature, Education, Alliance, and Regulation – to help ensure a strong future for Arizona's retailers and suppliers.

Jimmy Wright, owner of Wright's Market in Opelika, AL received the 2024 Grocery Champion of the Year Award. Jimmy has been an independent grocer since he started working at his father's store in Opelika, AL, at age 12. He purchased the store in 1997 and renamed it Wright’s Market in 2003. Under his leadership, the small business grew into a 22,000-square-foot independent grocery store renowned for its high-quality meat and produce. It currently employs 32 staff members.

What sets Jimmy apart is not just his business acumen, but his distinct passion for tackling food insecurity. He is nationally renowned for pioneering customer service advancements, particularly in transportation accessibility for both urban and rural patrons. He spearheaded groundbreaking initiatives to provide transportation to and from the store and introduced an efficient online ordering system with delivery services under the banner of Wright2U.

But Jimmy’s influence extends far beyond the confines of his store. In 2015, Jimmy initiated a collaboration with Carver Neighborhood Market in South Atlanta, addressing formidable challenges faced by the market in sourcing from wholesalers. Leveraging his expertise and resources, Jimmy now facilitates weekly wholesale orders for Carver Neighborhood Market, ensuring a seamless supply chain despite being located 90 miles away in Opelika.

In his “spare time,” Jimmy serves as a consultant for the National Grocers Association with GusNIP and SNAP Online technical assistance. He actively uses his store as a pilot for things like dairy incentives, GusNIP models, and was even part of the SNAP Online pilot program. He serves on multiple industry boards, advocating for the needs of independent grocers and community-driven food access solutions. Jimmy is a member of the NGA Government Relations Committee and regularly testifies before both the U.S Senate and House Agriculture committees on the impact of food nutrition programs. Currently, Jimmy is partnering with IGA as a retail consultant in both rural and urban areas, sharing his expertise with grocers nationwide.

Carly Whorton of Holton, KS received the 2022 Rural Grocery Initiative Leadership Excellence Award. In 2018, Whorton moved back to her hometown and, in partnership with her cousin, purchased, renovated, and reopened the local grocery store, now known as Cecil K’s Hometown Market.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Cecil K’s made the decision to close their doors completely to in-person shopping and began taking phone and email orders and offering curbside pickup. On top of that, Whorton took to Facebook to host daily Facebook Live conversations for over three months, creating more than 70 videos, in an attempt to keep customers updated on the constant changes happening in the store and with their ordering and pickup process.

Whorton is a constant advocate for the rural grocer. Over the past few years, the Rural Grocery Initiative has partnered with Whorton on numerous occasions – when writing fact sheets on e-commerce and farm-to-grocery best practices, for instance, and when putting together our webinar series on business transition planning. Whorton has been willing to share her experiences, so that others don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

Because of her dedication to supporting rural grocery across the state of Kansas and beyond, we are pleased to award Carly Whorton with the 2022 Rural Grocery Initiative Leadership Excellent Award.

Chandra Ruthstrom of Leonardville, KS received the 2020 Rural Grocery Initiative Leadership Excellence Award. Chandra Ruthstrom served as a key member of the Rural Grocery Initiative team since its founding in 2007 until retiring in 2020. Ruthstrom was instrumental in developing, sustaining, and expanding the Rural Grocery Initiative.

When the Rural Grocery Initiative first started, the office needed to establish where grocery stores in communities of 2,500 people or less existed. Ruthstrom came up with the idea of calling the post office in every little town in Kansas and asking if their town had a grocery store. It took weeks in 2007 to call and identify all of the rural Kansas grocery stores. “This database of rural grocery stores has been one of the biggest assets of our work and it was because of Chandra Ruthstrom” shared Dave Procter, co-founder and director of the Rural Grocery Initiative.

Ruthstrom was the first point of contact for individuals contacting the Rural Grocery Initiative, she led the coordination of the Rural Grocery Summit during her time with the office, and she served as a rural touchstone in the office, providing insight into being ‘’rural by choice,’ as she liked to say, and providing honest feedback on the team’s ideas and efforts to engage with and support rural communities.

“Chandra remains a constant cheerleader for rural Kansas and rural grocery stores. Chandra Ruthstrom loved the Rural Grocery Initiative and she loved the Rural Grocery Summit. It is an honor to present her with the 2020 Rural Grocery Initiative Leadership Excellence Award” shared Procter.