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Creating Local Markets: Lettuce to Burritos,

Salsa to Honey

layton Kammerer brought events where we estimate $3 Social impact, for
Chis own goal to the McGuire million a year is spent.”
New Venture Development “At McGuire, we learned that Clayton Kammerer,
Program: getting food from local you have to understand who your
farms to the complex network customer really is. I had thought the
of farmers markets in Southern customer was the person who came means fresher
Arizona. to spend money, but no — the real
Since then, he has branched customer was the vendor who came foods, strengthening
out to serve other small to rent space. A secondary customer
businesses, creating and was the buyer. And a tertiary
Clayton Kammerer health and wellness,
managing events from festivals customer was the community of
and block parties to bowl games and Tucson’s Tucson as a whole.
Downtown Saturday Night celebrations. “We want to keep the dollars here in town sustainability, the
But it wasn’t easy. rather than going out of state,” he says. “And we
Before coming to McGuire, Kammerer help create an avenue for local businesses to start environment, and
had discovered he wasn’t a good fit for his up. We know how to bring in the people who
engineering classes — or for most jobs. “I wanted make burritos, salsa or honey, or people selling the local economy.
something to do with food and to make things their paintings, or small businesses with locally
better in the world, in life, in a business,” he made wares.”
recalls. “I knew the McGuire Center was good, Social impact, for Kammerer, means fresher
highly ranked. I was a self-starter, so I got in. foods, strengthening health and wellness,
I developed my venture concept over my nine sustainability, the environment, and the local
months there. I knew when I finished writing it economy. “And,” says Kammerer, “we expose this
that I wanted to keep it going after I graduated.” community to quality heritage food — natural, The Food In Root Classic Farmer’s Market does
In 2011, he earned his B.S. in business organic food.” brisk business on a sunny Sunday afternoon.
administration with a major in marketing and
entrepreneurship and founded the company he
designed at McGuire, called Food In Root, or FIR.
During the 17 months before he earned a
dollar, he invested time researching, networking
and overcoming obstacles. “Which is how you
learn,” Kammerer says. “We had a first meeting
for clients, and five showed up. Today, we have
1,000 vendors.”
His clients include small-scale food producers
in Tucson who bring goods to events like the St.
Philip’s Plaza Farmers Market. One just makes
blueberry muffins. “All of them need to know
how to get products to markets and sell them at a
profit,” Kammerer says.
From his class project, Kammerer has
developed a business with “the widest tool kit in
the region for this kind of work.” He helps create
up to seven events a week, 12 months a year,
employing seven people in a $250,000-a-year
business. “We are growing every year and making

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