Business Spotlight: Piermont Farmers Market

PIERMONT, NY — Every local business has a story worth sharing with the community. And that’s the belief behind this ongoing series on Patch — to shine the spotlight on all our favorite local businesses, and to learn a little about the ones we may not know that well.

By the way, the Down to Earth Piermont Farmers Market opens for the season April 23. Market hours are 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Business: Down To Earth Piermont Farmers Market

Owners: Miriam and Jon Zeltzman

Website: www.downtoearthmarkets.com

Address: In the M&T Bank parking lot at the corner of Ash Street and Piermont Avenue

How did you come up with the name?

We started as Community Markets in 1991 but changed to Down to Earth Markets in 2012 because we realized that Community Markets was a name shared with many other businesses and it did not completely reflect who we were. The name Down to Earth Markets expresses our commitment to real food, produced with care for our environment, by regional farmers and food producers.

Why start a business in this town?

We were invited to start the Piermont Farmers Market by another local business that thought the market would be an enhancement to the community and an incentive for shoppers to come into the village. M&T Bank gave us their parking lot for staging the market, which put us in a prime spot in the middle of town. We liked how walkable Piermont is and how it would be possible for our shoppers to park their car then grab brunch, browse shops and galleries and shop the Farmers Market all in one morning. It doesn’t hurt that Piermont and the nearby towns have sophisticated foodies who show a lot of enthusiasm for our food growers and makers.

What business are you in?

We create and manage farmers markets that focus on local food by featuring regional farmers and food makers who use locally produced ingredients.

What’s the most difficult challenge you’ve faced as a business owner?

We now manage a number of Farmers Markets throughout the region but we started very small 25 years ago. Our founder, Miriam Haas was frustrated that it was so hard to find locally produced foods for her own family so she started the Ossining Farmers Market in 1991. It took a huge effort to find two farmers who were willing to give it a shot but it took off from there. The biggest challenge that Miriam and Jon have faced is in starting new markets while maintaining the level of attention and the focus on values that drove the growth of their first markets. The conversation constantly comes around to the questions, “does this reflect our values,” and “does this help us reach our goals.” We are a business but the financial bottom line is not the bottom line for every decision because we are a values-driven company.

What’s been your proudest achievement since opening?

We are very proud to be heading into our 13th season in Piermont. The time has flown by! It just goes to show that our first instinct about Piermont was right – it’s been very welcoming to our farmers market model. The community has shown us a terrific amount of support, from our hosts at M&T Bank to the Chamber of Commerce to our shoppers.

How does your business give back to the community?

On a local level, the Piermont Farmers Market invites local non-profits and civic groups to distribute information at the market through our Community Table program. It’s an opportunity for these groups to promote themselves at no cost. We are also members of the Chamber of Commerce because it’s important to us to be connected to, and supportive of, the other businesses around us. On a company level, we achieved certification as a B Corp. in 2014. This is a voluntary, but intensive, evaluation process run by B Lab that certifies that we are a business dedicated to solving social and environmental problems. We meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance and include consideration of all stakeholder interests (customers, community, employees, environment) in our business decision making.

Would you like to see your small business showcased in this series? Email lanning.taliaferro@patch.com