Working in Clark County: Erin Timmerman, director of operations, Vancouver Farmers Market

Erin Timmerman wasn’t particularly into agriculture or food when she stumbled into a full-time job at the Vancouver Farmers Market eight years ago.

She was fresh out of college from Multnomah University with what she deemed a “useless” degree in theology, the study of religion.

Before the many mornings of waking up at “zero dark 30” to set up downtown’s beloved weekly food event, the Boise, Idaho, native who now lives in Hazel Dell was an unemployed college graduate looking for a job. Any job. The few years following the recession were tough, she said, and she was unemployed in the winter of 2010.

But one fateful day, the now-34-year-old was perusing Craigslist when an ad for an assistant manager position at the market caught her eye.

Now in her ninth season at the market — which runs for 33 weekends — Timmerman is the director of operations, and it’s rare not to see her immersed in the community each weekend downtown, interacting with some of the 150-plus vendors and around 5,000 attendees each day along Esther Street.

She’s one of only five staffers who work out of the Slocum House near Esther Short Park, and her hard work doesn’t go unnoticed by readers. We were notified by a reader, who said, “(Timmerman) gets to be there every weekend day and holidays at zero dark 30, interacts with vendors, customers, staff, dogs, happy people, not-so-happy people, calls about restrooms that need attention and garbage cans that need emptying, people who can’t find parking spaces, and on and on … . She’s fair to everyone and always upbeat and cheerful, and I don’t know how she does it!”

Timmerman laughed in appreciation at the note, but said she is in the office a little more these days.

“I spend more time in the office now than I used to. For the first about five years of my job here, we, on a market day, would start at 5 a.m. We try and make things really smooth. You know, we have to get a lot of people in a pretty small geographical area in a timely manner,” Timmerman said. “I actually think office work is harder for me to do than working at the market.”

The market runs through Oct. 28 this year, with two following holiday markets. During the week, she’s in the office with the team as they find ways to attract new vendors.

The market has come a long way from its earlier days. This year marks its 29th season. It started in 1990 and used to be in an indoor location, according to Timmerman. Now it’s outdoors where patrons can enjoy the sunshine (if the sun is out that day), walk their happy pug, smell some of the roses for sale, and of course, purchase a bundle of locally grown organic carrots or even stop for a bit of Latin jazz entertainment, among other things to do and items to buy.

Timmerman is hopeful the market will continue to grow, and that it will become more of an iconic part of the downtown area. In fact, she’d like to see more creative use of public space downtown all together.

“I’d like to see some of the developers downtown do some creative placemaking, that’s more than just like, ‘We built a huge apartment complex,’ ” she said.

Timmerman has observed the market grow as wildly as its vendors’ produce since she came on board. Today, she said all farmers markets are expanding in interesting ways and evolving into “more of a resource,” much like libraries.

“When I was growing up, a library was a place you went and checked out books, using like an old-school card system,” she said, referring to the defunct card catalog system that has been replaced by an online system. “That was what you could find at a library — written materials. Books, newspapers and magazines. The market, similarly, 20 years ago, you know, you’d come and you’d find local products.

“That’s still true, but libraries now, you go in and some libraries have social workers to help with issues that come up just dealing with the population. You have people who can give you resources to find a job, to teach you how to use the internet or how to use email. The scope of libraries has changed so much with technology.”

Timmerman said similar changes are happening at farmers markets, partly because of technology but also because of the needs of the population. Many farmers markets nationwide have widened their scope to focus on topics like food access and food security for low-income individuals, she said.

“We’re becoming more of a place you can find resources, like food security, learning about where your food comes from, or you know, maybe we teach garden classes,” she said.

The Vancouver Farmers Market even accepts EBT/SNAP benefits, formerly called food stamps, she added, and established a program in which they match EBT transactions with an extra $5 for fruits and vegetables, to help “that dollar stretch a little further.”

She is enthusiastic about her work, but like anything, it takes its toll. It’s tough to find time for their small staff to take time off or have weekends. She’s hoping to take a trip to Hawaii or South America once the market season ends. Additionally, Timmerman sometimes finds it overwhelming to interact with so many people all the time.

“I mean, we all have those moments, when you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ I think the fast-paced nature of the market is something that I love the most about it, but I’m truly an introvert, so sometimes that interaction with that many people, you know, just one after the other, after the other, at the end of a weekend can leave me feeling like I need to not see people for a couple days,” Timmerman said. But as much as it might drain her, it also gives her energy.

“It really just kind of ramps you up for the day. Most of the time, on market days, you realize it’s almost 5 o’clock and the day went by like … .” She snaps her fingers.