St. Johns promotes Moonshot 2026 to spark local business growth

Apache County residents with a business idea, a side venture or an expansion plan have a June 18 shot at turning that idea into seed money, mentorship and broader exposure in St. Johns. Moonshot 2026 is being promoted by the city as a free opportunity for local risk takers, business leaders and entrepreneurs, and Moonshot says all residents and businesses in Apache County are invited, with entrants required to live in the county to qualify.

The St. Johns stop is part of Moonshot’s 7th Annual Rural Arizona Pitch Competition, which the organization says will travel to 20 cities and counties across rural Arizona and focus this year on innovation. Every competitor at a tour stop automatically receives a membership valued at $5,500 a year, including mentorship, educational programs and access to investors and funding opportunities. Local winners then move on to a state title event in the Greater Phoenix area, where the top prize is $10,000 and the crowd favorite prize is $5,000.

The local pitch event also fits into a broader economic-development push already underway in Apache County. Salt River Project said in May 2025 that St. Johns would host the Apache County tour stop as part of its Coal Communities Transition effort, aimed at supporting economic growth near Coronado Generating Station ahead of the plant’s planned coal closure by the end of 2032. SRP said the local tour stop prizes would be $1,000 for first place, $750 for second and $500 for third. Apache County Economic Development Director Preston Raban said the competition offers cash prizes, networking opportunities and attention for the community.

That matters in a county where the 2020 Census counted 66,021 residents and where 72.6% of people identify as American Indian and Alaska Native alone, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. St. Johns itself had 3,417 residents in the 2020 Census. County officials say they are working to create a business-friendly climate that brings jobs and a prosperous future, and Arizona economic-opportunity officials describe microbusinesses, firms with fewer than five employees, as the heartbeat of the state economy.

The payoff from the county’s past winners is part of the case for paying attention. Tyson Nicoll of Eagar won first place at a previous Apache County tour stop with Southwest Biochar Products and later secured a grant and hired more than a dozen local employees. For a rural county trying to keep more spending close to home, Moonshot 2026 is less about event-day excitement than about whether local ideas can become real businesses, payrolls and services that stay in Apache County.