It’s been a year and half since a new CEO took over the struggling CNY Regional Market Authority, trying to turn around its finances and upgrade its aging facilities.
Bill Fisher knew the odds didn’t look good when he took the helm. The market’s finances were in shambles, and facilities were crumbling.
“There was some question a year or so ago whether we were going to survive," he said. "When you've got 300 or 400 vendors that are used to being here on Saturdays and Sundays, putting their blood, sweat, and tears into their business that operates out of our regional market, they need to know that the future for the market and the market is assured.”
FIXING FINANCES
Fisher said revenue is stable, and state and local governments have stepped up support. He said they also sold a warehouse to pay down some debt, reduced spending, and established some credit. Fisher said his goal is to be completely self-sustaining, without government subsidies.
“We should be able to run this as a business, as a profitable one. where we take profits and put them away into a capital reserve," he said. "As our buildings and as our grounds and as our other physical assets wear out, there should be a capital reserve in place to replenish those things.”
Fisher said they’re trying to find creative ways to generate more traffic and revenue. One example is a well-attended event from last fall that they’re bringing back for the entire summer.
“Every Thursday between May and October, there's going to be a food truck takeover," Fisher said. "We're going to have a night market alongside that. And in many of those cases, there's going to be a baseball game over at NBT Bank Stadium that you can go to with the first pitch at 6:35.”
FACILITY UPGRADES
Visitors may notice some improvements to the 50 acres of grounds and buildings. During a recent tour of the market's campus, Fisher pointed out some cosmetic upgrades to the A-shed, the year-round vendor space.
"An architect has given us designs to replace all the entrances here. We've fixed the heating, we've added a lot of paint," he said. “We've done a lot of work inside to make sure that all the lights work and that all the doors open and close correctly."
Fisher said they've also re-striped vendor spaces and numbers, added trash cans, and made other small upgrades that can make a big difference.
Perhaps the most noticeable change is the new translucent panels that replaced the old garage-style doors.
“So the same types of glass doors over on A-shed, you're going to see that over here on the C-shed," Fisher said. "And that will expand during the winter months, the capacity that our vendors have.”
He said capacity, access, and functionality are essential to foster growth, not only in the vendor areas, but also the nearly century-old commission houses.
“Over here is where we're hoping to build a 40,000 square foot cold storage warehouse because all of our wholesale companies that are here in front of us are in outdated facilities," Fisher said. "The tenants are very excited about the possibility. And we think we have a good line on some state funding that would be required for that.”
That funding could come from a competitive regional state grant. Fisher said a key part of their proposal includes plans to link the market to the city’s north side and create a stronger economic hub.
“We're going to be bringing in some local businesses to show them, here's what the city's planning on Hiawatha Boulevard, as far as sidewalks, as far as intersections," he said. "Here's how we want to connect our campus to the nearby neighborhood.”
He said it’ll also complement the county’s economic development grants designated for adjacent northside businesses.
“We're very optimistic that all of the support that we're getting from state government, county government, city government, and all the things that our vendors are doing, we believe that those are all going to bear fruit,” Fisher said.
