Category: Uncategorized

Request For Proposals

Graphic Design

Overview

The Madison Public Market is a public/private partnership between the City of Madison and the Madison Public Market Foundation. The $13 million project breaks ground this fall in the City’s 45,000 square foot Fleet Services facility. The Foundation will be the operator of the market upon opening in 2021.

Scope

The Foundation worked with Zebra Dog to develop a new visual brand for the Madison Public Market. The Foundation is requesting proposals for a graphic designer to complete the following projects in the spring of 2020:

– Re-skin MadisonPublicMarket.Org in accordance with our new brand guidelines.

– Redevelop our capital campaign materials with our new brand guidelines.

– Design promotional gear such as t-shirts, hats and canvass bags for the Madison Public Market.

Business Model

As a nonprofit, Madison Public Market is seeking high quality work at a good value. Consideration will be given to rate and experience.

Schedule

Please submit your proposal and a link to your online portfolio to Megan Ballard, Project Manager – [email protected]. Proposals must be received by February 28, 2020 to be considered.

Mayor Rhodes-Conway has upheld the City’s commitment to move forward with the Madison Public Market, reflecting support for this community economic development project. In her 2020 Capital Budget Plan, released last week, she maintained the City’s commitment of funding just over half of the project costs.

In her Executive Capital Budget Memo released on September 3^rd, Mayor Rhodes-Conway stated: “The Public Market is a project we have debated as a community for a number of years. I recognize this project’s ability to support businesses and cultivate entrepreneurship, which is critical to realizing the goals of this [Economy].”

The Mayor has proposed shifting the City’s source of capital for the Market to the Tax Increment District that includes the project’s site (TID 36).

“My budget anticipates construction of the Public Market will continue as currently planned, but transfers the local funding share ($7.5 million) to revenue from the Tax Increment District,” said Mayor Rhodes-Conway in her recent Budget Memo. “I used the [money] saved here to invest in Bus Rapid Transit, Affordable Housing, and Land Banking with a focus on reducing the City’s debt obligations.”

According to City staff, this shift in the city’s internal financing strategy for the Public Market will have no effect on the Public Market’s timeline, design, or operating plan.

Included in her new budget plans, Mayor Rhodes-Conway calls for the Madison Public Market Foundation to raise an additional $500,000. The Foundation has currently raised $1.1 million of a $4 million capital campaign to support the development of the Public Market.

Thank you to Mayor Rhodes-Conway for continuing to move our Public Market forward!

Special thanks to our guest blogger, James Shulkin, member of the Madison Public Market Advisory Council!

Here in southern Wisconsin, we love our Farmers’ Markets! The Dane County Farmers Market located on the Capitol Square, is reportedly the largest producer-only farmers’ market in the country. While certainly the best known in the region, and a must visit at least a few times each season, this “jewel” of markets is supplemented by at least twenty farmers’ markets elsewhere in Madison and in communities like Baraboo, Beloit, Fitchburg, Fort Atkinson, Janesville, Middleton, Monona, Stoughton, Sun Prairie, Verona and Waunakee.

The proposed Madison Public Market will offer some of the same amenities as your local farmers’ market, plus more. A key difference between a Farmer’s Market and Public Market is that a Public Market is indoors, allowing it to be open year round, often 5-7 days per week. The City of Madison’s fleet services building at the corner of E. Johnson and First Street, will be home to our year-round Public Market, opening at the end of 2021. This retro space is a perfect Market home with 2 story ceilings and open space, floor to ceiling windows, several 2 story garage doors that will be open during the warm months, and a location near green spaces including Burr Jones Field, the Yahara River and several bike paths.

According to Jamaal Stricklin, Chair of the Madison Public Market Foundation, a non-profit tasked with operating the Market once it opens, shared, “At the Public Market, you’ll find items that you can’t get anywhere else in town all under roof ; ready-made food products, fresh produce, unique food ingredients and culturally diverse foods cooked on site that you can take home or eat there. We’re also planning to have a restaurant and cafe on site.”

Like your local farmer’s market, the Public Market will provide a fun and interesting gathering place to meet friends and co-workers while enjoying talented musicians and performers. However, the Market will have other amenities in that it will house community activities, meeting spaces, art exhibits, full-service restaurants, cooking classes, festivals and temporary pop-up vending events. In addition, the Public Market will provide a seasonal cold-weather option for farmers’ market vendors looking to expand their selling season.

The Madison Public Market Foundation is hoping to partner with local farmers’ markets by offering outdoor market stands during the growing season. “We’ve also had conversations with the Dane County Farmers’ Market to potentially relocate the winter market to our event space,” shared Stricklin.

According to Dan Kennelly, manager of the City of Madison’s Office of Business Resources, the Public Market’s main purpose is community based economic development. “We want the Public Market to be a place where an entrepreneur with a unique idea for a new food product, or a new business idea, can have a place where there will be foot traffic, where they can launch their business and bring that idea to reality,” adds Kennelly. “We expect that market participants who make an interesting sauce, or jam or some other kind of food product, can use the Public Market to develop a customer base and continue to grow into a brick and mortar location, or sell wholesale to grocery stores on a much larger basis.”

The Madison Public Market will also be an important part of the overall regional agriculture community. The synergies that will exist among agriculture-related companies, organizations that support entrepreneurs like those mentioned above, and the Public Market, will likely make Madison the best local food community in the country. One exciting partnership is with the Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin (DFW). DFW will host a Wisconsin Dairy Experience in the Market that will feature some of Wisconsin’s most beloved and delicious Wisconsin cheese vendors, cheese and dairy tastings, plus a fun, interactive experience that will foster our love of Wisconsin dairy! Suzanne Fanning, VP of Communications for Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, shares, “We’re excited to create a destination within the Market for locals and visitors alike to celebrate the vast array of our state’s award-winning cheese and to honor the dairy farmers of Wisconsin.”

The concept that food-related endeavors are viable, actionable vehicles for entrepreneurship is already well established in the region. Southern Wisconsin boasts the largest agriculture employment base in the state. According to the Madison Region Economic Partnership, there are nearly 60,000 jobs directly related to agriculture, comprising 20% of Wisconsin’s total agricultural employment. Regional infrastructure supports food & beverage production, processing, packaging, and distribution.

Madison’s unique food infrastructure, traditions, and facilities, all play a role in supporting and strengthening our food system. For example, the Dane County Farmers Market is a beloved weekly event focused on sales of local agricultural products, the FEED Kitchens provides flexible commercial cooking opportunities for entrepreneurs and community members, the Garver Feed Mill is a new home to growing, “second stage” food companies, and Madison College offers a array of culinary training programs and credentials. The Madison Public Market is designed to complement and build on Madison’s existing strengths and assets in the food economy.

Kennelly believes the Public Market will be Madison’s next treasured public place. He and others who envision the Public Market’s success see it as a destination for everyone, where you can purchase fresh vegetables and baked goods, stop in for lunch, or have dinner and late night drinks with friends.

After all, says Kennelly, “We are a food city.”

The Madison Public Market Foundation is pleased to welcome Megan Ballard as our new Project Manager. Megan previously served as the Treasurer of the Board.

A Message from Megan

After serving as the Treasurer for the Madison Public Market Foundation, I am excited to shift into the role of Project Manager for the Board of Directors. In my new role, I will work with the Board to facilitate completion of multiple projects as we prepare to break ground on the Madison Public Market in 2020. I will also take an active role in community outreach and engagement as the dream of our public market becomes a reality.

While the City of Madison works diligently to finalize construction plans, I will be working with the Foundation Board to implement its operating plan. I am building relationships with public market operators across the country, recently completing tours of NewBo Market in Cedar Rapids, IA, Logan Street Market in Louisville, KY and Findlay Market in Cincinnati, OH. We’ve gathered amazing insights from our peers as we begin to define our vendor selection process. Other key initiatives we are working on this summer include developing and implementing a brand strategy; securing public art for the project; and continuing to grow the capacity and operations of the Madison Public Market Foundation (future operator of the Market) in preparation for opening in 2021.

In addition to working with the Madison Public Market, I recently joined Madison Commercial Real Estate as a Sales Associate specializing in retail brokerage services. Prior to joining MCRE, most of my career has been spent in the commercial real estate industry, managing and leasing shopping malls.

I am originally from Iowa, relocating to Madison from Minneapolis in 2016. I’m an active member of Downtown Rotary and Downtown Madison Inc. I enjoy living on the Isthmus and taking in everything our beautiful City has to offer.

Thank you to all the dedicated individuals and organizations that have worked tirelessly on the project and to our donors and supporters. We would not be here without you! The Madison Public Market will be an amazing asset to our community and I could not be more thrilled to join the team!

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out at
[email protected].