Founding Board Sought For Proposed County Farmers Market

By Chris English

SCHOHARIE COUNTY — Schoharie County is seeking applicants who want to serve on a founding board of the proposed County Farmers Market.

In a recent media release, County Agriculture Development Specialist Caroline Myran said the next step in creating the market that hopefully will open in May or June is forming a board.

Local agricultural producers, vendors and community members interested in serving on the board can apply at this link: https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=fpVBJoz320W0KayIco3lFLAmI4AUrlNDq4MJ71Z-16BURUFEVllITUdCMFE0RUtHU1lNREYyUzA0OS4u&route=shorturl

Those who have questions or need a hard copy of the application can call Myran at 518-295-8785 or email her at Caroline.myran@schohariecounty-ny.gov. Applications should be submitted by Sept. 30. Applicants will be invited to participate in brief online interviews in early October.

"Many people agree that Schoharie County needs a centrally located, easily accessible Farmers market," Myran wrote in the media release. "Since last spring, an exploratory committee has surveyed community members and local producers, held productive community meetings to discuss the results of the surveys and the county's Agriculture Development Specialist has applied for grant funding to pursue this goal."

The county Board of Supervisors recently approved applying to the United States Department of Agriculture for a grant to help fund the Farmers Market. The county is still waiting to see if that grant is approved.

If received, the grant would provide $50,000, Myran said. Combined with a $23,000 match from the county, there would be a total of $73,000 that would pay for a part-time Farmers market manager for two years, that person's professional development, site evaluation and marketing and advertising, she added.

As of now, it looks as if the probable location for the market would be either Schoharie or Cobleskill but Myran said the board would make a final decision on location and other details.