Farmers Market Manager Certification Online

Posted on November 7, 2019 by Taylor in Farming Resources, Food Systems, Local Food, Marketing // 0 Comments

FMM Pro: Farmers Market Manager Certification Program to offer online workshops starting this November

The Farmers Market Federation of NY, in partnership with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Broome County and the New York State Fresh Connect Program, is pleased to announce a revised and updated Farmers Market Managers Professional Certification Course FMM PRO.

The Farmers Market Manager Certification (FMM Pro) course is a professional certification program for farmers market managers. The program teaches all aspects of running a farmers market. Managers use the program to ensure their markets are operating at top efficiency; ensure their partners, collaborators and funders that they have the skills needed to operate a successful market; and encourages investment in a market and their manager to support a professionally run market.

The FMM Pro program was instituted in 2015 and a number of market managers throughout New York State and beyond have graduated from the course and used the information to help them run a successful market for their farmers, their consumers and their community. But the environment has changed dramatically since 2015. We find ourselves fighting harder for market share against other venues for local food, a consumer base more focused on convenience and a climate that increasingly calls for risk management in all areas of the market.

The FMM Pro Farmers Market Manager Certification is responding to the changes we face as farmers markets by updating the curriculum. New sessions have been added to the curriculum, as well as many of the sessions updated with new information and ideas. The new and updated sessions will be delivered by webinar this Fall and Winter and are free to join. If you are a graduate of FMM Pro, attending each session will provide you with 2 continuing education credits toward maintaining your certification. (See schedule below.)

To obtain farmers market manager certification, managers must take the online course, complete all modules; including the video presentation, homework assignment and quiz. Once a passing grade is obtained for all modules, the graduate will receive a Certificate of Achievement signed by the three partnering agencies in the program: Farmers Market Federation of NY, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Broome County and SUNY Cobleskill. In addition, certified managers will need to earn 2 continuing education credits bi-annually by attending special sessions at the Federation’s annual Farmers Market Managers Conference and/or specified manager training webinars in order to keep their Certification active.

All farmers market manager certification webinars are scheduled for Noon to 1:30pm and they are free to participate, but registration is required. You can register for each of the sessions here.

Once the updated sessions are added to the online curriculum, each participant will receive a link to the online program to register for the full course.

FMM Pro Webinar Schedule

Session	Presenters	Live Presentation Schedule (noon – 1:30)
Programs and Services for Farmers Market	Beth Irons Sue Gardner Smith	November 15
Risk Management	Larry Spilker Jon Zeltsman	November 21
Branding and Marketing Materials that Speak to your Customers	Lindsay Wilcox	December 5
Fundraising & Stability	Margaret O’Neill Jackie Farrell	December 11
Crisis Management	Jim Farr	January 8
Nutrition Programs to Grow Your Market	Taisy Conk Jessica Douglas	January 17
Food Safety at Farmers Markets	Caroline Butard-Hunt John Luker	January 28
Farmers Market Financials	Steve Hadcock	February 4
Conducting and Interpreting Market Research	Laura Biasillo	February 19

For more information, contact Diane Eggert at deggert@nyfarmersmarket.com or Laura Biasillo at lw257@cornell.edu.

FMM PRO is funded by a grant from Governor Cuomo’s Fresh Connect Program, as part of the Governor’s initiative to build bridges between Upstate NY and Downstate NY, as well as build connections between consumers and NYS agriculture.