Frequent transitions in market management and leadership are detrimental to a market's sustainability and growth

The Michigan Farmers Market Association (Mifma) received a $147,979 Project Grant award from the US Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service under the Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program (FMLFPP) to develop resources supporting farmers market managers in Michigan. Mifma will adapt the Community Farm Alliance's cost-share model for market manager compensation and create an operations manual and program documents to implement the model. Additionally, Mifma will establish an online database of open market manager positions and a virtual "legacy binder" of transition resources on its website. Data from Mifma's 2020 farmers market census will inform the work. The association will measure impacts through an annual market listing update in partnership with a local food marketing firm. This will provide yearly compensation data from over 100 markets to assess the program and identify areas for improvement over the three-year period ending September 2024.

In michigan, like other areas of the country, market managers are notoriously undercompensated for their role. Unplanned or frequent transitions in market management can negatively impact a market's overall performance, and poorly compensated and unpaid positions are difficult to fill. As market managers leave, institutional knowledge is lost and relationships with vendors, shoppers, and the community must be rebuilt. The community farm alliance (CFA) of kentucky has built a cost-share model to address this issue. As the covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the challenges of appropriately compensating market managers, mifma intends to adapt the program model to fit market needs in michigan, using data that was collected in mifma's 2020 census of michigan farmers markets to inform the work. Grant funds will be used to develop an operations manual for future implementation, create program documents such as application and selection criteria, and establish evaluation plans to ensure programmatic success. Additionally, mifma intends to create a searchable database of open farmers market jobs on our website alongside resources, shared through a virtual legacy binder, to guide markets through periods of leadership transition. Mifma will measure the impacts of expanded resources through a partnership with a local food marketing firm, incorporating questions about compensation into their annual market listing update. This will allow for data collection yearly from the more than 100 markets to assess impacts and areas for improvement.