This commentary is by Jeremy Ayers, a resident of Waterbury.
I wanted to make a statement regarding the Burlington Farmers Market taking issue with the new BTV Market that was just announced by BCA/City of Burlington.
To establish some context, I was the market manager for the Artist Market for all of its years in City Hall Park and I took part in starting the BCA Artist Market almost 20 years ago.
The BCA Artist Market started on the plaza behind the BCA Center and over the years expanded from that center, taking on a larger footprint very close to neighboring Burlington Farmers Market vendors. During all the years we shared the park, there was an air of colleagueship between the BCA vendors and the BFM vendors, management and staff.
But it was always clear from an organizational perspective that Burlington Farmers Market viewed the BCA Market as competition. BFM vendors always had parking and load-in/load-out rights that were not granted to BCA artists. The BFM vendors were protective of those rights and from the beginning the BCA Artist Market hours were staggered to ease load-in and load-out congestion issues and not step on any BFM vendor toes.
This territory was well established, and though the dividing lines were often unclear to most customers, we existed together in relative harmony over the years and all did wonderful business in City Hall Park.
When both markets learned that they would all have to vacate the park for several years for the renovation, it very quickly became clear that the BFM was not interested in having the BCA Artist Market move with them to the “temporary” PIne Street location. Despite the fact that the city helped fund its move to Pine Street, the board of the BFM did everything in its power to keep us away from them, despite the large space they were now in.
During these three years, the BCA Artist Market community struggled to find a workable location and time, and our community splintered. We spent a lonely season on Church Street, a season at 339 Pine and last year back in City Hall Park, attempting an afternoon market. None of these locations or times had the magic of being in the park on Saturday mornings with our friends from the Burlington Farmers Market.
The BFM press release citing space concerns as the reason it is not moving back to City Hall Park is leaving a lot out of the story. As stated in its response, the city of Burlington helped pay for their move, included them in the design process from the very beginning, offered them four years free rent and a staggered starting and ending time. The new City Hall Park was truly designed with events in mind, including the BFM and BCA Artist Market as principal renters.
The BFM and BCA have had an agreement from the beginning that the BFM would return once the space was ready. BCA has repeatedly asked the BFM back to the table to find a solution that is workable for all the vendors involved. The BFM has left BCA hanging based on solvable space and flow problems. BCA has a professional event planner who is amazing and can create clever solutions to these problems.
As a past artist market vendor and administrator myself, I have trouble with the Burlington Farmers Market stating that this is an aggressive move by BCA and that BCA is both a negotiator and competitor.
The BCA Artist Market of the past and the new, expanded concept of the BTV Market is truly designed as a small business incubator. BCA juries in new microbusinesses and mentors them through streamlining and unifying their business offerings and market display. This helps all kinds of businesses gain a foothold in the marketplace, including a portion of the program specifically designed to promote BIPOC businesses.
The BFM has so many returning vendors that there is not as much flexibility to include new micro businesses.
The list of local art businesses that started in the BCA Artist Market and have grown into independent full-time businesses is long and impressive — New Duds, Golden Hour Gift Company, Soor Ploom, Jen Kahn Jewelry, and Pleasant Ranch, just to name a few.
So now it seems the Burlington Farmers Market does not want to move back to City Hall Park. This is an unfortunate decision from my perspective, but if it truly doesn’t work for them, fine. But to move out of a retail space and to then say you can’t rent this space to another entity is ridiculous and self-serving. It seems like the BFM is about to get some actual competition.
I think both markets can be very successful and good for Burlington. BFM has proven it can be successful even outside the downtown core, otherwise it wouldn’t be staying on Pine Street. The BTV Market doesn’t include any farmers and is going to have a different focus than the BFM.
I think there are a number of clever ways that the two events could be co-marketed and connected to have a Saturday morning celebration in Burlington of small Vermont businesses. Between locals and tourists, there is plenty of business for everyone. Let’s all be successful together! A rising tide floats all ships!
