The downtown area of the city is home to independently run businesses near the intersection of Wooster and Main streets, and the list gets even bigger every Wednesday.

The growth can be attributed to the Downtown Farmers’ Market that is held once a week from 4 to 8 p.m. in the parking lot next to SamB’s restaurant. The market has been running since May 18 and will go until Oct. 12, according to the Downtown Bowling Green website.

“The farmers that go there get great exposure to the community that way,” said Nick Hennessy, the University sustainability coordinator. “I think it’s a win-win, for sure, between the customer and the farmer.”

Hennessy shops at the market every week and said that a lot of students and faculty from the University support the market as well.

“[The products] didn’t come from very far away, so it was not only fresh and healthy, but it also came from local farmers, which is all of the things you look for in a Farmers’ Market.”

Since the market is seasonal, the products change as the year progresses.

“I like the heart of the summer,” Hennessy said. “That, to me, is usually the time when there is the most stuff there.”

City residents enjoy the Farmers’ Market. Shirley Cron said that coupons for people over the age of 60 help make shopping more affordable and also finds the market’s environment friendly and convenient.

“You can get [the products] in the store, too, but its not the same,” Cron said. “This is a Farmers’ Market. The farmers bring them in, so you know they’re fresh. These are all grown at the people’s houses, so it helps them and it helps us too.”

Hennessy said that he sees lots of customers talking to the farmers and suppliers about what they grow and what they can expect to see during the next weeks.

“It puts into a community context, which is great,” Hennessy said. “It’s much more personal.”

The support can also extend to the downtown area as well, Hennessy said. He said that downtown businesses can get exposure from customers traveling to the market. Local businesses such as Qdoba give out samples at the market.

Willy’s Salsa Inc., is a locally based company at the market. Dennis Dickey, president of Willy’s Salsa, considers the market “his time off” from work.

“I have fun, I like all the people, everybody’s really nice, you get to know the customers,” Dickey said.

While Dickey has been making the salsa personally for almost 40 years, he decided to start selling it to grocery stores four years ago.

His confidence in the product increased when he won a number of salsa-tasting competitions, including the People’s Choice first place award at two Toledo Farmers Markets.

“This particular market right here, they really care about it,” he said. “It’s not a real big market, but it’s a good market, and the people that run it, Penny [Parker] and Barbara [Ruland], really want us to succeed and have done a nice job.”

Dickey said the markets have been useful for helping not only his business to become a medium-sized regional company, but also the business of the 400 grocery stores that he sells his salsa to by encouraging people to continue buying the product.

“That’s what I like about Bowling Green,” Dickey said. “It seems like everybody in Bowling Green supports our company … most people have heard of us, and the ones that do support us.”