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BURLINGTON, N.C. -- Those who live in Burlington quite often travel out of town for their shopping needs, but pretty soon that's going to change thanks to an upcoming and innovative downtown business.

"This project will help us see things flow and expand into the rest of downtown," said Burlington Downtown Corporation Director Anne Morris.

Gov. Bev Perdue announced the city is one of just a few in the state to receive a Main Street Solutions Grant to help revitalize downtown business. "I really do I believe this little investment in our tax dollars in something that's already happening here in Burlington," said Perdue. "It is a really important spark to rekindle the partnership between the state and this community."

The $300,000 is being used to help get the ball rolling on the Company Shops Market Grocery Cooperative, a soon to be 7,000-square foot natural food store that will offer fresh meat and produce with a focus on locally grown, made and packaged products.

"It will be a boom to our local agriculture," said Morris. "It is also a sustainable business. By locating in downtown Burlington, they are not building a new building, they are rejuvenating an existing building, they are recycling."

In addition to revitalizing downtown, the grant will help provide jobs for those in need in Burlington: 11 full-time, 14 part-time and 59 construction jobs.

"We're going to have to hire people to do the renovations here, there's going to be people who work full time here, but it's really the jobs behind here, that local agriculture, we're going to be buying products not available to Alamance County, that are produced in Alamance County," said Eric Henry, who's on the Board of Directors.

Construction on the project is expected to start in the near future and could be complete as early as next year.

The other seven recipients are Henderson, Kings Mountain, La Grange, Morganton, Rocky Mount, Waynesville, and Wilson. The grants total $1.95 million and are expected to create or retain a minimum of 425 jobs across the state.