Broad Street Market Alliance board met on Wednesday at the Historic Harrisburg Association Resource Center.
The Broad Street Market Alliance is trying to find new ways to stabilize the nonprofit’s finances.
With a recently passed 2026 budget showing a yearly deficit, the board brought forward plans for fundraising at its Wednesday meeting.
The $921,999 budget, which was published on the market’s website this week, showed expenses exceeding revenue by $87,231, even as the board attempted to tighten its belt with spending cuts to areas like advertising and personnel.
“There’s a challenge to the overall business model that we need to address,” said board Secretary Paul Gellerman. “We really need to focus on the financial foundation of the market.”
While the budget on paper shows a deficit, Treasurer Merrick Green said that one state grant carried over from the previous year and a Dauphin County grant that the board has not yet received are not factored in. With this in mind, he believes that the market will have enough revenue to cover expenses.
Regardless, market board members agreed that a long-term plan is needed.
Even when the fire-ravaged brick building is rebuilt and reopens, Gellerman doesn’t think that vendor rent payments will be enough to cover operating expenses.
New TV screen in the market’s stone building to be used for advertising, announcements and sponsorships.
Much of Wednesday’s board discussion was around the market’s new revenue stream, an 85-inch TV hung near Zeroday’s Outpost in the stone building. Green explained that people can now purchase advertising space, which will appear on a slideshow of ads on the screen. So far, he said, four organizations have committed to buying ads, which cost $1,500 for six months. The budget projects $20,000 in ad revenue for the year.
In addition to ad purchases, the screen will serve as a way for the market to thank sponsors for donations, as he seeks new partners and donors, Green said.
In the budget, the Friends of the Market donation program, which allows community members to support the market, is estimated to raise only $1,000 this year. Currently, Gellerman said that the yearly income from the program is less than that.
Green has also worked to get the market its sales tax exemption, since it is a nonprofit, something that he said was not done in the past.
As part of the 2026 budget, the board will begin to spend its $500,000 state Fresh Food Financing grant that it received in May. The money will allow them to replace the stone building’s roof and update HVAC.
Board members said that they are working to submit additional grant applications.
Green said the board also is still waiting on a grant agreement with Dauphin County to receive its $75,000 in gaming grant money, which was dependent on a new lease agreement with the city. Harrisburg City Council recently approved a one-year extension of the current lease.
Gellerman said that he hopes to foster a better partnership with the city and potentially work to get annual financial support for operations from the city.
While this year’s budget does not include a rent increase for vendors, Green and Gellerman said that the market will likely have to build in annual increases in future years, something that they said is normal for comparable markets.
“The goal is to make the market a place of commerce for the community,” Green said.
Ultimately, board members are hopeful about the trajectory of the market, especially with a slate of new directors on the board.
At its Wednesday meeting, the board welcomed five new members, three of whom were in attendance.
However, board Chair Tashia James was not present on Wednesday and other board members noted that she had missed several meetings.
“We need leadership,” said market vendor Tito Tep, a board member. “We need to move on.”
Tep nominated Gellerman to step in as the new chair, after the board discussed a reorganization. Gellerman accepted the nomination, but asked that the board wait to vote until the next meeting.
The board did, however, unanimously vote for new director Doug Rickards to take the seat as vice chair.
“I feel very hopeful about the board,” Gellerman said after the meeting. “I appreciate everybody who has contributed to the board in the past and now.”
In other Broad Street Market news:
- The board decided to continue Wednesday market hours, something that Market Manager Cherri Parks-Taylor had implemented during the holidays. The market will now be open on Wednesdays, in addition to typical Thursday to Saturday hours, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- New vendor Damion’s Fried Chicken is slated to open in the stone building by the end of January. The business is a locally owned startup.
- Parks-Taylor said that holiday events at the market, including a Christmas tree lighting and private events, were successful.
- Doggie Delights, a vendor in the market’s tent, announced that it will close at the end of January, citing a struggle maintaining business in the tent. Doggie Delights sold its gourmet dog treats in the brick building before the devastating July 2023 fire shuttered that building.
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