The Madison Public Market is excited to introduce our newest Madison Public Market Foundation Board members. Leslie Watkins, Laura Heisler, and Rachel Kerr joined our board in November and have been wonderful additions to the Public Market team.
Leslie Watkins, a longtime Madison resident is an experienced management professional with an extensive background in sales, retail, marketing and strategic planning. With a BA from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, she is an energetic, results oriented problem solver. She is on the board of the Madison Children’s Museum, and previously served on the boards of Four Seasons Theatre, Capital City Theatre, and the Dane County Arts Commission, and she has also done fundraising for the Center for Patient Partnerships and Wisconsin Public Television.
Laura Heisler is Director of Programming for WARF and the Director of Outreach for the Morgridge Institute for Research. Prior to assuming this role in 2009, she served as an Intellectual Property Manager for WARF and as the Program Developer for the Morgridge Institute for Research. She has been involved with numerous aspects of the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery project since its inception in 2006. In her current role, she is charged with developing, implementing and directing the programmatic framework for the groundbreaking public spaces at the Discovery Building, including the one-of-a- kind Town Center, which welcome the entire community. Programs at the Discovery building include forums for university and community-based entrepreneurs.
Laura is a patent agent registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Before joining WARF in 2004, she worked as Intellectual Property Manager, Grants Manager and as a research scientist for a biotechnology startup, Third Wave Technologies. Laura did her undergraduate work at Stanford University in Biological Sciences and Classics and earned a Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She is the author of several scientific publications and the inventor of a U.S. patent.
Rachel Kerr is the Director of Public Relations and Events for Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, a non-profit funded by the state’s dairy farmers to grow demand for Wisconsin milk. In her current role she leads the development of brand experiences and communications to grow awareness of Wisconsin Cheese. Before joining DFW, Rachel helped lead the iconic Wienermobile program at Kraft Heinz/Oscar Mayer.
Rachel joined the board as a representative of Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin and as an advocate for local agriculture. Having worked and lived on Madison’s East Side for many years, she is thrilled to be part of the Madison Public Market Foundation to help make this project a reality. Rachel believes the public market will become a cornerstone of the Madison community.
Thank you Leslie, Laura, and Rachel for being a part of such an important project!
Recently, the Foundation hired 
The look and feel of the Market is also a front-burner issue. The Foundation has engaged local communication design firm Zebradog (pictured right) to create a memorable and welcoming environment within the 50,000 square feet of the former Fleet Services Building. The Foundation will be responsible for selecting the building’s artwork, storytelling features and ongoing marketing and promotions for the Market, including regular community cultural events featuring area musicians, performers and artists.
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.”
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.
