Two local project proposals were awarded $7,500 grants Thursday night at a town hall meeting in Austin.

A project to create an Austin-area research foundation, backed by Austin Medical Center physician Dr. Matthew Kumar, was one of the winners.

The non-profit would help aspiring researchers and inventors move forward with their ideas by working with them on things such as grant writing.

“Citizen inventors need to be fired up,” Kumar said previously.

Also receiving $7,500 was an idea put forward by David Lunning and Lindsay Lunning of LeRoy to produce “food-grade” soybeans locally that can be exported across the globe.

The ideas developed last month at the Austin and Mower County Town Meeting Initiative, where local officials, business owners and community leaders gathered to brainstorm ideas.

Those in attendance worked with each other, and by the end of the night, three finalists had emerged.

John Garry, executive director of the Development Corporation of Austin, which put on the events, said the process and ultimate result were very rewarding.

“The TMI process was a proactive and positive experience for the participants and the community,” Garry said in a release. “There is a tremendous amount of creativity, talent and knowledge in Austin and Mower County. We have identified some very exciting projects.”