SUPERPOWERS: Intuition and listening
Founder and Manager, Bridgeport Farmers Market
Since the Bridgeport Farmers Market was launched in 2009, people have gathered on summer Sundays to take part. There, customers can find any number of delightful offerings, from personalized poems and crafts to food locally grown and made. Behind it all has been Debbie Workman.
In 2008, when traveling with her husband, Workman noticed that Berkeley Springs had a Sunday farmers market and loved the idea. It prompted her to ask, “Why can’t we do this in Bridgeport?” She met with her friend, a restaurant owner with farm contacts, and they began fleshing out the idea that would become the Bridgeport Farmers Market.
“Bringing fresh, healthy, local food to the community is important,” Workman says, citing the health and economic benefits. They started out with six vendors in front of the high school but have grown into a booming marketplace with more than 50 vendors and an established setup each week at Charles Pointe. “We wanted to highlight West Virginia farmers and help small businesses, and the market has become like a small business incubator where they start and then they go on to get a brick and mortar.”
More than that, though, the market helps locals connect. “We bring together a whole community of people who have the same mission, and it’s not only the volunteers and the vendors. Because we don’t charge vendor fees, we seek out sponsorships and we’ve gotten grants, so we bring in the community that way. The people kind of buy into the market,” Workman explains. “That’s very important to me, to build a sense of community where you go every Sunday, and yes, you shop local, but you also have a sense that somehow you’re part of it.”
After 17 years in the role, Workman will soon be retiring from managing the Bridgeport Farmers Market, making this honor all the more meaningful.
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