This Is What We Do:
Facilitating Entrepreneurial Ecosystems
As we are exploring and evaluating our entrepreneurial ecosystem in Mount Vernon, we have renewed appreciation for our partners in building the entrepreneurial ecosystem and supporting small businesses in our community. Do you realize that the Mount Vernon Farmers Market is one of those partners? We know of at least three successful businesses in our downtown that got an early opportunity to sell their work and refine their products and business models through area Farmers Markets: Forte Chocolates, elSage Designs, and Pegasus Pie Company.
We also remember and appreciate how the Mount Vernon Farmers Market supported Taste of India by providing them with a venue for continuing to offer their delicious cuisine when their original restaurant location downtown was lost to fire in their first year of business, and the continued boost to their business provided by incorporating them in their new location on the Riverwalk Plaza. A significant number of the local artisans featured in our own LIDO Collective are also provided with an opportunity to realize income from their creative endeavors by local farmers markets. Our Farmers Market also has a program that provides a booth for youth entrepreneurs to experience business ownership at an early age.
Mount Vernon has been fortunate to have a Farmers Market for over 40 years. Most people realize the economic benefits of Farmers Markets: they provide opportunities for regional farmers, small batch food producers and artisans to sell their products locally without the expenses of shipping and storage. They help meet consumer demand for locally grown healthy foods; and when they accept EBT cards, special programs for seniors, and SNAP benefits like ours does, they increase affordability and amplify access to healthy foods for all.
Farmers Markets help contribute to a sense of community and place by providing a regular gathering opportunity and experiences for people to enjoy. Many markets, like ours, offer entertainment and activities in addition to produce and items for sale. Through eliminating the shipping, storage and packaging requirements associated with selling produce, Farmers Markets help the environment since food purchased there has a lower carbon footprint than that purchased in grocery stores. Farmers Markets also help nearby businesses by creating an attraction that increases foot traffic in the area. While some businesses note that folks shopping for produce on a hot summer Saturday may not linger or visit other shops on that day, it is also true that some attendees do make a more wide-ranging experience by also shopping at our stores and dining at our restaurants. It is difficult to quantify the collateral impact on downtown businesses of consumers becoming more aware of their existence while visiting the Farmers Market and returning to shop there at a future date, but we know anecdotally that it happens. Many Main Street programs across the country run Farmers Markets as part of their programming because of their powerful impacts on the local economy and civic life - we feel blessed to have such a strong independent local market that already existed in our Main Street district
We are delighted to partner with the Farmers Market, whether it is through helping to amplify their presence in downtown, assisting and supporting vendors to become brick and mortar business owners, providing additional market opportunities for their artisans via the LIDO Collective, or simply just enjoying the delightful community experience and healthy local farm products that they bring to our downtown 22 weeks of the year. Be sure and support them and their farmers and artisans by making the Farmers Market a part of your weekly Saturday routine!
Visit the Mount Vernon Farmers Market website:
