Market location: Charlestown, Nashua, Concord, Pittsfield, Cornish, Jackson, Milford, Laconia, Wakefield, Newport, Sanbornton; Jaffrey; Manchester; Wilton; Rochester; Hancock

Number of vendors: 4; 3; about 20; 16; 10-13; about 15; 8; 6; 38; 25; 17; 8-10; 25; up to 10; 8-10; 14

Number of "regular" members: 4; 3; not sure; 8-10; 10; 3; 8; 6; 17; 18; 17; 6; 20; 4; 8; 10

Does market have enough vendors? No; Yes for now; Seem to; Yes, but we could use a strawberry grower; No; No; No; Yes; No; Yes, but would love more produce vendors and bread makers; No; Yes, but can accommodate additional vendors that have products to enhance our product mix; No; Yes, but interested in expanding to include products like meat. Cheese, poultry & eggs; No; Yes; Almost

What product vendors would market like? Baked products, dairy products, wooden products, strawberries; Organic produce, plants/perennials; need more ag products—fruit, vegetables, eggs, syrup; Organic vegetables, crafts, honey, flowers; produce, bread; General produce; More produce; fruit, honey, maple, goat products, vegetables, bedding plants; We may need a bread vendor, but we are generally doing well

Would you look to NHFMA to help locate vendors? No; Maybe; No; All help welcome; No; Yes; Sure; Yes; Yes; Yes; Yes; Yes; No; No

What factors will encourage new vendor participation? No rent/no cost to vendors (3), all you need is our own insurance; A good steady customer base; A larger pool of affluent buyers; Getting more people involved in local food production; A steady customer flow; How the market can help sell their products; A successful market that attracts an informed clientele that gives the vendors good exposure and sales; This survey or any referrals from it; High attendance by the public; Grant for advertising recently received; Tell them they can earn millions of $ a year; Our own outreach and success

Years market has been in operation: 3; 7; about 25; 8; 6; 1; about 25; 29; 8-9; 5-6; about to begin our first full year; 11; 7; began July 2001; 8; 12

Average buyer attendance: Never counted them; 50-60; 75-100; 100-200; 150-200, about 200; 50; 75+; 1000-2000; not sure; 100-150; 300

Does the market have an annual meeting? No; Yes; Yes; Yes; Yes; No; Yes; Yes; Yes; Yes; Yes; No; Yes; Yes; Yes; Yes

How are market decisions made? We discuss at market; discussion; presented at annual meeting and voted upon; We vote; by consensus; Market coordinator makes most decisions with input from vendors, customers, other village businesses and Chamber of Commerce; Vote; Discussion; Vote and Steering Committee decisions—monthly meetings; 5 member board of directors; Meetings held monthly, Feb.-May open to all members; By a committee; Majority vote for steering committee (5-7 members), steering committee elects officers and generally manages the market; We have discussed how we want the market to look and come to agreements on all major issues. Have committees to tackle different responsibilities; Inputs and market master’s desires; By vote of Hancock members and regular vendors

Is market registered with the secretary of state? I have no idea; No; Not sure; Yes; No; Not sure; Yes; Yes; Yes, think; Yes; No; No; No—but I do want to incorporate; Not sure

Does your market have bylaws? No; No; Not sure; Yes (they’re on the internet); No; We have guidelines; Yes; Yes; Yes; Yes; Yes; No bylaws, but rules; Yes; Working on; Yes; Yes

Does your market have membership criteria? Up to 10; Vote of members; Yes; Yes; Yes; Locally made, locally grown; Yes; Yes; Yes; Yes; Yes; Yes; No; Yes; Working on; Yes; Yes

Does your market have product guidelines? Yes; NH grown; Yes; Yes; Yes; Yes; Yes; Yes

Yes; Yes; Yes; Yes; Yes; Yes

Do you allow non-agricultural products to be sold? Yes, crafts must be agricultural kind; No; Yes; We allow agricultural crafts; Yes; No "Yard sale" items; Yes, if New Hampshire made; Yes; Yes; Yes; Yes; Yes, if agricultural based—no flea market items (we also allow other community organizations to have informational exhibits or bake sales, as long as they don’t detract from the market); Limited crafts if garden related; No; Yes; No; Yes, if locally produced

Does market have insurance? No; Covered by church; Yes—liability; No; yes—commercial general liability; Yes, provided by the Chamber of Commerce; No; Yes; Yes; No; We are presently investigating policies; No; Yes, general liability; Yes, provided by Wilton Main Street Association; Yes; Yes, by town

Are vendors required to carry insurance to participate? No; Yes; Not sure it’s required—vendors are urged to; Not required, but recommended; No; No; Yes—off-farm liability; Yes; No; No, encouraged; This is being recommended for adoption at our next meeting; Yes; Yes-$500,000 general liability coverage; Yes; Yes, minimal; No

Does market have a manager? Sort of; No; Yes; Yes; No; Yes; We have co-chairs; Yes; Yes

Yes; Yes; Yes; Yes; Marketplace coordinator; Yes; Yes

Paid manager? Funny, vendors can’t afford such stuff; No; No; Not yet; No; No; No—table fee waived; No; No; No; Yes; No; No; No

What types of promotion activities:

Newspaper: x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Radio: x x x x x

TV: x (local access); investigating local access; x; x (tried local cable)

Roadside Signs/Posters: x x x x x x x x x x x x

Special Events/Entertainment/Demonstrations: x x x x x x x x x

Direct Mail Flyers: x

Website: x x Not on a website now, but interested (3); Yes

Other: WIC listings; Church bulletin; Colorful opening flyers and brochures; Chamber of Commerce mailings, Brochures; Had an informational exhibit at the March 2002 town meeting where we gave away a 10% discount coupon for use at the market. Also, we are working with local churches and senior groups to provide transportation to the market; posters, newsletters; Banner across Main St. and town newsletters; Flyers in tourist/public places; Listings by NH Dept. of Ag.

What promotion activity has been most successful? WIC word of mouth, posters in WIC offices;

Newspaper; Moving into a downtown location where people can walk to the market; Signs, posters, word of mouth; Word of mouth, arm twisting to get vendors, posters, WIC mentioned in newspapers; Special events/entertainment because it contributes to the pleasant experience and is a draw; None; Not sure; Word of mouth and roadside signs; Roadside sign and colorful visible vendor umbrellas; Radio advertising every week reminds the public of the week’s programs; Apple Festival—broad participation and advertising; Road signs; Posters and signs—WIC program also helpful, cable tv seemed effective

Is community supportive of market? Yes particularly the elderly; Not really; Yes; Yes; Mildly; Yes; Yes; No—signs, radio spots, newspaper; Yes; Yes, overall; Yes, very; Yes, although many people do not use it. Most customers are very loyal; Yes; Yes; Yes; Yes, increasingly so and we operate under the auspices of the selectmen

Do local regulations support your market and agriculture? Road signs would be nice; Not really, very restrictive; Yes; Yes; Local regs haven’t shut down market, but haven’t made it easy either; Yes; Yes; Do not know; Yes; Yes; Yes; Yes; Yes; Yes

Do state regulations support your market and agriculture? Yes; None seem to apply to selling fruits & vegetables; Yes; Yes; Understanding food permits has been difficult for some vendors;

Yes; That is a hard question; Do not know; Yes; Yes; Yes & No—state should approve the sale of NH produced wines at local farmers’ markets; Believe so; Yes; We hope so

What does market contribute to economy of community? Hard to tell as most of the income is from FMNP coupons; Cheese and soap don’t sell; This market is mostly WIC; Only location in downtown Concord to purchase locally grown produce; People like the fresh vegetables and fruits at reasonable prices; The social impact is greater than the economic impact; Gives weekend gardeners and hobbyists a place to sell, provides a place to use WIC coupons, sets the stage for non-profits to have fund-raisers; For vendors, it is another outlet for their product; Market is what to do on Friday afternoon, offers another sales outlet for vendors, visibility/advertising opportunity, stay in touch with other gardeners; Market adds to our sense of community—social interaction as well as outlet for wholesome agricultural products that provide an economic gain for vendors; Market brings many people to town on Saturday mornings to use other services; Brings many families to downtown Manchester; Brings people to downtown, regular vendors seem happy with sales; Good vibes, social interaction, an economic outlet for small producers.

Geographic regions covered by market: Charlestown, Acworth, Claremont area; Inner city Nashua; Concord plus 10 mile area; Cornish area and into Vermont; Gorham, Jackson, Conway, Brownfield/Fryebrug, ME; Milford and surrounding towns; Belmont, Laconia, Plymouth; 30 square miles around Wakefield; Newport, Claremont, Grantham, new London, Newbury, Sunapee; Sanbornton and surrounding communities in the Lakes Region; Jaffrey and adjacent towns; Manchester and surrounding communities; Wilton-Lyndeborough; Rochester, Farmington, Milton, Middleton, Strafford, New Durham; Towns surrounding Hancock, plus campers from the Greenfield State Park

Beneficial educational topics: How to get people there and spend money (not just look and leave); bilingual; Marketing and display; Better presentation of goods; Explanation of food permitting for jams, baked goods, etc.—courses would need to be held in the north; Marketing, State rules; How to cook various vegetables, print recipes, how to get the most for your money; How to get aid to small farmers, insurance/legal, advertising local and statewide; Marketing, weights & measures, growing better produce, IPM, organic best management practices (we are working with Extension to provide such courses); Business aspects of running a markets—licensing, tax issues, organizational structure, etc. Also, marketing advice for markets and vendors; Promotion, displays, giveaways, slide show of other markets; Grower interactions and ideas, liability issues and solutions, advertising and display

Desired annual meeting structure: Open forum; Include education, business, open forum; Instate networking; Educational sessions; Roberts Rules of Order; One workshop for coordinators, one for vendors, open business meeting, open forum with one-three discussion topics; Business meeting; Open forum, business meeting; Business meeting, education, advertising, workshops; Consider having annual meeting in conjunction with the Farm & Forest Expo. The meetings should have an open forum to exchange management practices with follow-on educational sessions on topics requested by members; Open forum, educational session, business meeting; Educational session, discussion of local regulations or problems; Educational sessions and business meeting

What would draw your market members to attend an annual meeting? Have it nearby (within a half hour drive); Have meeting in late October or November; Free appetizers, Dinner, Drinks;

Having the meeting north of the Lakes region; Convenient time and location; To learn how to expand their market share; Closer to home; Will it help members sell more products?; See above; Location near us—all our vendors are small-time home gardeners who only use the market for part-time income; Location and time of meeting; Free lunch; Education, ideas, & food

Top three issues/projects for the upcoming year: Getting people to the market with cash; WIC funding and getting more cash customers; Finding a new market master, addressing new food safety issues, effective advertising; Arranging local entertainment during the market and having an available and close bathroom; Attract more buyers and vendors; Paying the coordinator (how to do this), recruiting new vendors, coordinating with other community events; marketing, marketing, marketing; Vendors, advertising, more support; Setting up educational demonstrations for each Sunday, printing a coloring book to be distributed at the market; Get organized, find how to fund association without drawing money form members, advertising with website and printed flier; Insurance, funding, Advertising & promotion; adding more vendors with more variety, we want to stay a "locally grown and produced" market, but this is hard when we need more variety; Increasing market attendance, developing programs to promote appreciation for local agriculture; Promotion—get people to the market, increasing vendors—many would create an atmosphere of anticipation, best way to use our advertising budget; Advertising, space crunch or expansion, choosing vendors to avoid overlaps but increase market draw

NHFMA project that would most benefit market: Promotion; education, advertising; Statewide vendor recruitment; Spreading the word in NH to visit your local farmers’ market, perhaps a slogan; advertising—radio; Some kind of a common logo for the farmers’ markets of New Hampshire; Affordable insurance, broad state-wide promotional efforts, assistance in achieving non-profit, non-taxable status for farmers’ markets; Promotion of farmers’ markets as a way to preserve local agricultural land and the high quality of products available locally; Inviting appearance of the market with appropriate promotional activities