Broad Street Market in Harrisburg began 2024 with a bleak financial picture, but is ending the year on a positive note.
On Wednesday, the market's board of directors, the Broad Street Market Alliance, adopted a $513,524 budget for 2025, an improvement over the $14,000 operating budget started earlier this year.
The 2025 budget includes no rent increase for vendors and includes about $100,000 in state funding for renovations and improvements to the market's stone building.
It also calls for the hiring of a permanent, full-time market manager to replace former managing director Tanis Monroy, who left the market earlier this year.
Monroy was charged with two felonies after police said he embezzled about $17,000 from the market by using a company credit card for personal expenses, writing fraudulent checks and collecting unauthorized bonuses.
The board said an application for the position will be released shortly.
Additionally, the budget, for the first time in years, addresses the need for preventative maintenance and resumes paid advertising, which the board temporarily halted last year as a cost-saving measure.
The board said if the budget is carried forward, the market should have a working capital balance of about $100,000 for 2026, just in time for the planned reopening of the market's brick building. The building was severely damaged by fire in July 2023.
In a letter released in November, Board Chairman Eric Hagarty said the market's revamped board, working with suppliers, utilities, subcontractors and community members, had starved debt.
He said a voluntary 25% vendor rent increase, board members stepping in as market managers and a $350,000 state grant stabilized the budget. The Department of Community and Economic Development grant will go toward operating costs as well as roof repairs and HVAC upgrades to the stone building.
During the meeting, the alliance also achieved the following:
- Approved a new vendor application for the return of former tenant Honeybush Raw Smoothie Bar.
- Approved new nondiscrimination and sexual harassment policies to ensure employees have a safe work environment regardless of race, gender, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, gender identity expression, religion, sex, age, disability, disability, marital status, etc political belief.
- Adopt a new conflict of interest policy to ensure that board members do not receive any benefit from serving on the board and that employees do not receive any additional benefit beyond the terms of their employment.
- The following board members were elected for 2025: Chairman Eric Hagarty; Vice Chairman Theo Armstrong; Treasurer Tashia James; secretary Hannah Witzer; and at-large officer Brandon Williams.