Strategic Plan

NEW GLASGOW FARMERS MARKET

 STRATEGIC PLAN

 July, 2016

Executive Summary: The New Glasgow Farmers Market is a non-profit co-operative organization dedicated to providing a venue for local agricultural producers and artisans to market their products to the Pictou County region.

Mission Statement:

The New Glasgow Farmers Market is a non-profit cooperative organization whose mandate is to support local growers and producers by providing a low risk venue that will help promote their products and give exposure for their business.

Our goals are:

1) to Provide local products to residents and visitors, and
2) to Educate the public on the economic, social and health
benefits of supporting local producers through the NGFM.
Strategic Analysis:

The New Glasgow Farmers Market has a number of strengths within the community:

1. A variety of skills in current and potential future vendors
2. A lot of support within the community, the Town of New Glasgow (TNG), and other stakeholders
3. A strong physical and social presence in the community
4. A growing customer base
5. A great energy or “vibe” in the atmosphere at the Market
6. An excellent location, including parking
7. A wide variety of products and options for customers
8. A mix of customers
9. Accessible site

The New Glasgow Farmers Market also has some weaknesses to overcome:

1. Vendors who don’t participate in the Cooperative’s wider activities
2. Need for more partnerships with other organizations
3. Products that we don’t have on offer
4. Need for more awareness of our presence in the wider community

The opportunities that are available to the NGFM:

1. The continuation of partnerships with Pictou County Food Security Coalition, Communities in Bloom, others
2. Expansion of services, activities and vendors at the Market

* Family-centered activities

* 2nd Market day or alternate use e.g. midweek dinner

* Increase Primary Producers

3. Expansion of marketing to reach a wider audience
4. Public Education on food, local economics

The threats that must be considered:

1. Other Farmers Markets opening in the area
2. Financial stability
3. Costs of marketing
4. Health Regulations

Opportunities to achieve this year:

1. Increase/Recruit more primary producers
2. Add vendors for whom we have a lack of product
3. Parking lot improvement
4. Increase in fundraising efforts and revenue

Opportunities to achieve within 5 years:

1. Maintaining our financial security
   2. Outdoor space additions and improvement

* outdoor stage

* community garden

* parking lot entrance

* picnic area/boardwalk

We do/will do the following to maximize the lifetime value of our customers:

Support our vendors by providing educational opportunities, marketing support, etc.

Provide opportunities for feedback and be responsive to such feedback

Continue to expand to meet the needs of the customers

We have or will forge partnerships with the following organizations:

Pictou County Food Coalition
Pictou County Health Services
Department of Agriculture
Select Nova Scotia
Farmers’ Markets of Nova Scotia

DEANS
Key Performance Indicators

The following are the Key Performance Indicators that we will measure and include in our dashboard:
* Attendance numbers
* General sales trends per vendor
* Table Fees per week
* Membership Fees
* Vendor numbers, track consistency (regularity)

Other Indicators to Track On an Irregular Basis:

* Survey of Customers: What are they buying, how much are they spending?

* Tracking Regular Customers and Attendees: Why do they come?

The managers weekly emails to vendors and members should quantify and report these Dashboard indicators.

Operations and Projects

One to two years:

Volunteer recruitment

Barriers

Wayfinder signs

Outdoor picnic area

Pathway and signage to and from downtown

More educational projects

Links with festivals and downtown activities

On site signage

Artisan demos

Five years:

 Parking Lot reconfiguration

Landscaping

Community garden

Performance stage

Entrance reconfiguration

Food Bank/donation programme

Chef demos

Bag programme (market bags in bulk for all vendors)

Increased building use
Marketing Plan Existing:

 Assess Cost and Effectiveness

Existing:

Radio

Rack Cards

Newspaper

Facebook

TNG Public Announcements

New:

Customer email list — request emails

Newsletter — distributed through email, other means?

CKEC phone promotions

Free community avenues: Church and other bake sales at Market

Church bulletin ads

School Newsletters/liaison

Encourage more Primary Producers

Promote FM to more growers

FM Mascot

The frameworks below can be expanded to use for any project or endeavor the Cooperative wishes to undertake. This allows for multiple volunteers to work on various aspects of a project, and allows for a complete report on the status of each project.
Operations Plan

1. Projects to Be Completed
2. Projects Broken into Smaller Pieces
3. Key Details of How the Projects Will Be Completed
4. Charting the Projects

Marketing Plan

Products/Services:

Places/Distribution/Methods

Marketing Partners
Summary:

The New Glasgow Farmers Market is ideally suited to increase the number of primary producers and provide many more products and services to Pictou County residents and visitors.

The Board and its Membership should carefully assess the direction it wants to go
and strike working committees to research and follow-up on information gathering,
cost analysis, and other details of projects to move forward into an exciting future.
The careful selection of staff and volunteers will assist these strategic decisions.