Ohio City is so excited to welcome The 8th International Public Markets Conference to the neighborhood this month! In a preview of the event, staff from Ohio City’s own small business Strategic Urban Solutions sat down with David O’Neil to talk about the economic and health benefits of markets in our communities. For more information visit the event’s website.

Like most good things in life, David O’Neil fell into his profession. While working at the Reading Market as a way to get to talk to people for a mystery he was writing, he was approached by a few men who had worked for the Reading Railroad that owned the market. A couple days later he was offered the job of running the market. Talk about being in the right place at the right time! Mr. O’Neil did not have any previous … Read More »

As David O’Neil pointed out in my interview with him a couple weeks ago, one of the great things about this international public markets conference is being able to talk to other people who are passionate about markets. I had a chance to sit in on a discussion surrounding farmers markets. It was a great setting where people who run farmers markets or who organize them got a chance to hear the issues that other markets were having and offer advice, and in many cases, commiserate and encourage.

This discussion group was a true example of the international nature of the conference. There were at least four individuals from Canada and one from Poland. The rest of the discussion participants were from all over the United States with nine states represented altogether. That’s pretty good for a total of about 20 … Read More »