In the eastern Arizona town of St. Johns, Michael Lindsey is working to clear an acre of land that has been in his family for more than 100 years. Once that land is cleared, he’ll install a hydroponic greenhouse and grow vegetables in a town that is historically tethered to ranching.

Healthy, affordable vegetables are something Lindsey’s community needs. The single grocery in town is expensive, and the only other option involves a lengthy — 70 to 100-mile roundtrip — pilgrimage to the closest major grocery or Wal-Mart in neighboring communities. Lindsey aims to change that. 

“It’s cheaper to drive 100 miles roundtrip than to buy what’s in town,” he said. 

Ideally, his hydroponic operation will make healthy food available for prices his neighbors see at Wal-Mart. And part of his plan includes coupling with the local schools, where he knows there is a need. 

“My mission is to actually help people in this town,” he said. “There are a lot of kids in my town who only eat at school. They eat Friday at lunch and come back Monday and eat again.”

The plans for this farming business model have been bouncing around in his head for, he guesses, about 15 years. He didn’t put them into action until he participated in a rural business pitch tour hosted by the Flagstaff-based incubator and accelerator known as Moonshot. 

Lindsey won his local competition, earning him about $1,000 in prize money. And then he went on to the state competition, where he earned $5,000 in prize money as a crowd favorite. The money was great, but the validation meant more.

“It was a very worthwhile experience,” Lindsey said of the Shark Tank-style pitch experience. “It’s moved this from an idea on my computer to something moving forward. At the end of the day, it was a catalyst to quit talking about it and start doing it.”

Moonshot’s rural pitch tour has grown over the years and now includes about 20 stops. A $2 million Small Business Opportunity Program grant from the Arizona Commerce Authority allowed Moonshot to gradually expand its tour and engage with more rural entrepreneurs. In addition to validating the entrepreneurial spirit in rural communities, the tour is allowing Moonshot to test-drive a scalable business incubator model that better suits areas with smaller populations.

“We’re trying to make a less expensive, more sustainable incubator model for rural Arizona,” Moonshot CEO Scott Hathcock said. 

Beyond the pitch tour, Moonshot offers businesses technical assistance and focuses on getting them primed to qualify for financing. Part of that plan involves partnering with as many Community Development Financial Institutions as possible. 

A Community Development Financial Institution, or CDFI, is a specialty financial institution that receives federal funding and offers affordable loans, credit and investments to underserved populations. CDFIs offer much-needed access to capital for individuals and businesses that can’t otherwise secure it through a traditional bank. 

Beyond access to financing, CDFIs offer favorable terms and financial counseling, allowing individuals and business owners to improve or establish a stronger credit profile, which may help unlock additional financing in the future. By making capital available for individuals and businesses, CDFIs act as catalysts for economic growth, particularly in rural areas where they fill financial gaps. 

In many rural areas, traditional banks are either scarce or just not available, which can stifle growth. Moonshot is familiar with the power of CDFIs, in part, because it received funding from one known as Growth Partners Arizona.

When federal grant funding was tenuous in early 2025, and the timeline for grant fulfillment was unpredictable even after a grant was awarded, a CDFI loan offered a sense of stability for Moonshot. In fact, it allowed the company to move forward with its tour while investing in its own programming. 

And it was the tour that was a catalyst for Lindsey to move forward with his business, which he’s named Hometown Fresh.

“These little towns, to survive, need these kinds of programs,” Lindsey said of Moonshot and CDFIs. 

With or without a loan, though, Lindsey is moving forward with his plan. Now that he has put it out into the open, there’s no turning back.

“There’s a little bit of motivation there to show people in this area that maybe a little bit of a new approach might be more effective for the next 100 years for our little town,” he said. “I know it will work. It’s something that’s needed. And, I’m committed.”