 Gail Eggeman and Mark Johnson are founders and organizers of the Saturday Morning Market, which features about 130 vendors every week, making it one of the top 20 markets in the country and the largest in the Southeast. The market has served as a business incubator of sort, with dozens of vendors using the market to launch their business and then moving on to permanent retail locations. Product sales on a typical Saturday are estimated to be $120,000. The market is recognized as the weekly hub for downtown St Pete, a places where local gather to eat, shop and meet friends. Gail and Mark are being honored at the LocalShops1 Community Awards, which take place 4-7 pm Sunday, Aug. 14, at the Vinoy Resort in downtown St. Petersburg. Gail Eggeman worked for the City of St Petersburg for 28 years in accounting, audit, grant writing and the mayor’s education initiative. She has been the business manager and for the past 8 years, also the market manager. Mark Johnson spent more than 35 years in leadership and organizational development roles for AT&T, SYKES and as consultant. Gail, Mark, Judy Staunko and others collaborated in creating the Saturday Morning Market in late 2002. The market runs every Saturday, early October to late May, from 9 am to 2 pm in the Al Lang Field parking lot ( corner of 1st Street and 1st Avene S) in downtown St. Petersburg. In the summer, a smaller market takes place 9 am to 1 pm at Williams Park. also downtown. "In the Sunshine City, the town square isn't a place, it's an event — Saturday Morning Market," according to the Tampa Bay Times. Tickets: LocalShops1.com/Events Information on vendor spots, sponsorships and advertising in the program guide: email events@localshops1.com 
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 As an editor at the Tampa Bay Times, Stephanie Hayes oversees the company's lifestyle writers, including Laura Reiley, food critics at the Times since 2007. Laura recently shook up the food scene with her investigation of the farm-to-table trend. Laura Reiley and Stephanie Hayes are being honored at the LocalShops1 Community Awards, which take place 4-7 pm Sunday, Aug. 14, at the Vinoy Resort in downtown St. Petersburg. Laura Reiley, however, is not able to attend, to preserve her anonymity. Laura "combed through hundreds of menus from Tampa Bay restaurants, identifying those that made specific claims, and then she investigated those claims," according to the report in the Times. "She visited farms, spoke with distributors and had foods genetically tested when deemed necessary. When she found discrepancies or misrepresentations at restaurants, she gave chefs and restaurateurs the opportunity to explain." After pointing out the discrepancies, many of the restaurants changed their menus to more accurately reflect what they are selling. The Farm to Fable series also drew nationwide attention, spurring similar investigations around the country. The series helped consumers better understand the values and costs of eating locally grown foods, and helped raise the profile of local restaurants that are doing things right. Tickets: LocalShops1.com/Events Information on vendor spots, sponsorships and advertising in the program guide: email events@localshops1.com   Sarah and Raphael Perrier are founders and owners of Kahwa Coffee Roasting Company, which opened as a wholesale roaster in St. Petersburg in 2006 and two years later opened their first coffee shop. Today the company has 11 shops and the brand is carried at hundreds of restaurants not only in the Tampa Bay region, but all over Florida and also nationwide. The couple is being honored at the LocalShops1 Community Awards, which take place 4-7 pm Sunday, Aug. 14, at the Vinoy Resort in downtown St. Petersburg. "Our local community is very important to us and we love working with and supporting local nonprofit organizations," the couple writes on their website. "We donate our time and products to countless events and organizations in the Tampa Bay area." The couple lives in St. Petersburg with their two children. Tickets: LocalShops1.com/Events Information on vendor spots, sponsorships and advertising in the program guide: email events@localshops1.com   LocalShops1 is excited to welcome St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman as the keynote speaker of the LocalShops1 2016 Community Awards, which take place 5-8 pm Sunday, Aug. 14, at the Vinoy Resort. Admission is open to the public. Mayor Kriseman took office in January 2014 and literally hit the road running to follow through on his campaign pledges to help cut the red tape and make St. Petersburg a friendlier place for small businesses. Through his Small Business Tour and forums for small businesses, Mayor Kriseman spends much of his time speaking with local business owners, visiting their shops and restaurants, hearing their concerns. And then he goes back to City Hall and takes action. Under the mayor's leadership, the city has seen a renewed emphasis on locally owned businesses, while at the same time attracting larger companies into St. Petersburg. Before becoming mayor, Rick Kriseman served for six years in the Florida House of Representatives and as his caucus's policy chairman from 2011-2012. From 2000-2006, he represented District 1 on the St. Petersburg City Council and served as the council chairman in 2005. Mayor Kriseman has a degree in broadcasting from the University of Florida and a J.D. from Stetson University College of Law. He is married to Kerry, a St. Petersburg native, and they have two children, Jordan and Samuel. Together, the Krisemans serve as a volunteer puppy raiser family for Southeastern Guide Dog. The Community Awards, which also celebrate the eighth anniversary of LocalShops1, are made possible with the support of our sponsors, including Moorman Photographics. Tickets: LocalShops1.com/Events Information on vendor spots, sponsorships and advertising in the program guide: email events@localshops1.com  Noah Pransky, an award-winning journalist at WTPS 10 News, is on board as the emcee for LocalShops1's 2016 Community Awards, which take place 4-7 pm Sunday, Aug 14, 2016, at the Vinoy Resort n downtown St. Petersburg. Noah, a native of Needham, Mass., and graduate of Boston University, joined 10 News in 2009. He has since won several awards for news and sports reporting, including national recognition in 2013 for exposing safety issues on youth soccer fields and in 2014 for exposing red light camera abuses. In his free time Noah dabbles in competitive triathlon racing as well as eating contests. He's the proud winner of more than a dozen pepper-, hot dog-, and tater tot-eating contests. The Community Awards, which also celebrate the eighth anniversary of LocalShops1, are made possible with the support of our sponsors, including Moorman Photographics. Tickets: LocalShops1.com/Events Information on vendor spots, sponsorships and advertising in the program guide: email events@localshops1.com  John Collins is the founding executive director of the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance, the umbrella arts service organization that serves as fiscal partner for emerging arts organizations and arts festivals, including the Sunlit Fest and the SHINE Mural Festival, coordinates Second Saturday Art Walk; and supports school arts education countywide, including the Arts for a Compete Education committee and other professional continuing education programs for creative businesses in partnership with the Greenhouse. He is being honored at the LocalShops1 Community Awards, which take place 4-7 pm Sunday, Aug. 14, at the Vinoy Resort in downtown St. Petersburg. John moved to St. Petersburg fifteen years ago and volunteered for the City’s Arts Advisory Committee. In 2010, as chair of the committee, he produced the Arts & Culture Economic Impact Report, which helped civic and elected leaders understand that funding the arts is an investment and later established the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance in. Now John is leading a year-long effort with Creative Pinellas to measure how much the arts contribute to the local economy. His experience in fundraising and arts goes back to 1974, including managing theaters in church basements in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and later touring as the artistic director of Boston Mime Theatre. He performed at the first and second Spoleto Festivals in Charleston and also for the first First Night in Boston. He has held leadership or VP positions at Emerson College, Berklee College of Music, Arizona State University West, and USF St. Petersburg, and served as managing director of the Tufts Arena Theater and president of Boca Raton’s Centre for the Arts. John and his wife, Mary Ellen Collins, live in St. Petersburg's Old Northeast neighborhood. Tickets: LocalShops1.com/Events Information on vendor spots, sponsorships and advertising in the program guide: email events@localshops1.com  |
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