Category: Uncategorized

A Center for Increased Food Production and Processing – Bringing more local food to neighborhoods across Madison

Posted on by Amanda White

Have you ever wondered if places like your favorite local restaurant, your kid’s school, or your employer’s cafeteria provide local food? The demand for more local produce and food products has been on the rise, but larger institutions have had difficulty securing enough local food options to meet the demand. An important goal of the Madison Public Market is not only to bring local food to those who visit, but also to help increase the food available throughout our region. Approximately 15,000 square feet of the Public Market will be dedicated to the yet-to-be named food innovation center, a local food production, wholesale and workforce training facility that will be a catalyst in driving Madison’s growing food economy to its full potential.

Madisonians want more local food options, so what’s the problem?

Currently, the Madison region lacks sufficient systems to connect local produce and food products to local consumers. Our growing local food economy has the potential for immense growth, but lacks these key systems to meet the demand:

  • Storage and production space: Local food producers are constantly searching for affordable spaces to produce and store their food products. A simple, yet severe, lack of space is limiting the volume of local produce and products available to large institutions.
  • Limited distribution system: Once more food can be produced, growers and producers must have a way to transport the food to institutions. The current model of growers/producers attempting to work individually with many large institution customers is inefficient and impractical.
  • A skilled workforce: As our 21st century food system modernizes and concentrates more on the local food economy, our workforce must adapt to meet the change.

The solution…

The food production and processing facility at the Public Market will help fill the void of these missing systems and will be vital to increasing the volume and accessibility of local food throughout our community by providing the following:

  • Greatly needed production space to increase the volume of local food produce and products available for large institutional buyers. For example, the Madison Metropolitan School District currently purchases thousands of pounds of local produce for school meals, which need to be processed out-of-state due to lack of local production options. Space at the Food Innovation Center can fill this gap.
  • A more efficient distribution system that will enable large institution buyers to purchase from one source instead of trying to manage contracts with 20-40 different local food providers. Making it easier for large institutions to purchase goods will increase the options available.
  • Workforce Training programs – As our food system evolves and grows, Madison faces an acute need for skilled workers in our food preparation and processing sectors.  The Food Innovation Center will include space for workforce training programs focused on helping people become job-ready for positions in this growing industry.  These programs will be provided by community partners including FoodWorks – a private sector collaboration between well-known Madison chefs and business owners focused on training unemployed and underemployed adults for positions in the culinary industry.

The Public Market team is continuing to finalize details of the center’s design and programming.  Between the Public Market Development Committee and the Public Market Advisory Council, the project is fortunate to be drawing on the expertise of key local food business leaders and food system experts to plan and design the Food Innovation Center.  This includes involvement from the Underground Food Collective, REAP Food Group, FEED Kitchens, the UW Center for Integrated Agriculture Systems, Fairshare CSA Coalition, several food business owners, and others.

Working together, we will build a 21st century food system for future generations that is more sustainable, equitable, fruitful, and healthy. No matter how often you visit the Public Market, the Food Innovation Center will bring more delicious local food options to your everyday life.

For more information or to get involved with the proposed food processing and production center, contact Amanda White at [email protected]

Diversity of applicants to MarketReady program reinforces Public Market’s goals for inclusivity

Posted on by James Shulkin

Through the years, the Madison Public Market concept has gone through many changes. But one important, guiding principle has remained strong: ensure that the Market is a truly inclusive, welcoming place of community for all who reside and visit Madison. From the City of Madison, to the Friends of the Public Market group, to the newly created Madison Public Market Foundation, all supporters working on this project agree that inclusivity begins by ensuring that merchant opportunities are available to any person with a dream of starting their own food-based business. Thus, the MarketReady program was created to Encourage and stimulate the creation and acceleration of businesses owned and operated by women, persons of color, the economically disadvantaged and others in need of a new career path.

MarketReady is funded by the City of Madison and administered by the Northside Planning Council and FEED Kitchens, in partnership with the Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation and Dane County UW Extension. They are actively working to provide training, supportive services and micro-grants for entrepreneurs interested in becoming Madison Public Market merchants.

Services Offered by the MarketReady Program include:

  • One-on-one business consulting services
  • Invitations to peer networking events
  • Referrals to other educational and financial services
  • Monthly mentorship meetings with a business coach
  • Additional technical assistance
  • Access to micro-grants

The application process for MarketReady closed on July 1 (you can still apply for the waiting list) with 83 applicants accepted for consideration. Extensive outreach to diverse communities was the key to successful recruitment of applicants. Outreach to these communities occurred in Spanish and Hmong and in association with the Urban League of Greater Madison and Centro Hispano, among others. The breakdown of applicant diversity includes:

  • 59% female
  • 29%  first generation immigrants
  • 29% African American
  • 18% Hispanic or Latino
  • 14% Asian

The primary objective is to provide business training and some initial capital to help prepare these new entrepreneurs for a successful launch in the Market in 2019. Thirty (30) businesses will receive direct assistance over a two year period to prepare them to sell at the market. Fifteen (15) will each receive $3,500 to help pay for initial business costs; five of those businesses will receive $13,000 to set up their market space in the Madison Public Market.

What might this variety of vendors offer to the Market’s visitors? Prepared food from Laotian, Tibetan, Venezuelan, Indian, Cajun and other cultural traditions; clothing from Africa and Asia; handcrafted artwork and more.

Watch for updates about the success of the MarketReady program in future blogs.

Madison Public Market Site Plan Approved!

Posted on by Amanda White

The City of Madison Public Market Development Committee unanimously voted to approve the current site plan for the Public Market, moving the project forward (See below).

The site plan’s main features include:

  • 50,000 square foot Public Market, including a Food Innovation Center
  • Outdoor Market Plaza for outdoor seating, food carts or outdoor merchants, and live music and other entertainment
  • Pedestrian connection to nearby Burr Jones Field and the Yahara River
  • 4-5 story apartment structure across from the Market
  • Retail space
  • Underground Parking

Committee members expressed a few remaining concerns that were noted by city staff and will be discussed with the architects and developer partners. These concerns included: offering only 1 parking garage entrance/exit, creating an outdoor plaza entrance on the busy E. Washington Street corner (alternative may be to have an indoor entry/atrium), running Market Lane through the property (a member hoped it could be an entire pedestrian area), and creating diagonal parking on only one side of Market Lane (one member suggested that it should be parallel parking on both sides of the street.

The Committee seems to be divided on whether the Public Market should be situated along the railroad tracks and park. However, the property owners prefer placing the apartments on the park and the Public Market on the more visible, accessible street corner. City staff have expressed their support of the current Public Market placement.

The Committee also discussed two updated design mock-ups for the building’s exterior. There was a lot of discussion, differing opinions, and recommendations on the designs. Overall, the Committee preferred the building design pictured in the featured image at the top of this page. However the Committee recommended that a special Committee meeting be scheduled to refine the building design to better reflect a vibrant and engaging Public Market that represents Madison.

While there is still work to be done on finalizing building design, the Committee took a big step forward in approving the site plan concept. Never before has our Public Market been so close to becoming a reality.

 

 

Minneapolis’ Midtown Global Market embraces a neighborhood of many cultures

Posted on by James Shulkin

Many aspects of our Madison Public Market were influenced by successful markets across the country. One Market that demonstrates success in entrepreneurship, multi-culture experience, and strong urban development is right next door – the Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis. Friends of the Madison Public Market member James Shulkin, visited the Global Market and has a few insights to share.

A highlight of my recent trip to Minneapolis was a stop at the Midtown Global Market, a 70,000 square foot small business incubator operating since 2006. The Neighborhood Development Center (NDC), along with other non-profits, redeveloped the formerly vacant Sears regional distribution center in the heart of a challenged neighborhood in South Minneapolis. NDC offers entrepreneur training, small business lending, business support/coaching and commercial real estate development. NDC has since trained more than 4000 entrepreneurs, lent more than $7.1 million and has more than 120 small businesses operating in five area incubators across the Twin Cities. In turn, these companies employ over 2200 persons and contribute $29 million to the local economy.

The Midtown Global Market is an internationally themed public market featuring more than 45 small businesses selling fresh produce, crafts, grocery items, bakery and prepared restaurant items. The market attracts visitors who come for the internationally themed, family oriented events regularly held there. Home to over 45 businesses spanning over 22 cultures, the Market provides a global experience by offering extraordinary tastes, locally made arts and crafts as well as music and dance programs throughout the week. Over 1.5 million patrons visit Midtown Global Market each year.

Market founders cite the profound economic difficulties faced by area residents, many of whom are residents of color and recent immigrants (Hmong, Hispanic and East African). Over 32 percent of the population live below the poverty level, and the unemployment rate is 12 percent. Median family income is $18,092. 78.4 percent of housing is occupied by renters.

While these economic barriers are daunting, the Market organizers make note of the impact the Market has made as an economic engine. As testament to the value an enterprise like this has for the community, the organizers confidently state that the project has re-vitalized the neighborhood and has created a dynamic and safe community gathering place offering organic foods and vegetables in a previously underserved area. The corresponding impact on reducing crime and improving the surrounding community’s image has been profound.

What elements of Madison’s cultural diversity do you believe should be represented at the Madison Public Market? What kind of products, cultural events and educational events would you like to see? Our goal is to create a fun and welcoming market that celebrates diversity and inclusiveness.

There’s already been tremendous interest among a very diverse group of potential vendors, especially among those who’ve applied for the MarketReady Program. We are very excited about that! Check back soon for an update on the status of MarketReady.

Read more about the Midtown Global Market and the Neighborhood Development Center at http://midtownglobalmarket.org/