Who wants to organize the next Winter Makers Market in downtown Olympia?

A competitive process to select an organizer for the Winter Makers Market in downtown Olympia opens tomorrow.

Olympia’s Parking & Business Improvement Area (PBIA) Advisory Board finished the final draft of the Request for Proposals (RFP) last Wednesday, April 12, for an entity to oversee the winter Makers Market event.

This document is linked to PBIA’s search for a qualified entity -- either a nonprofit or for-profit business -- to organize and promote a series of events for the 2023 Winter Makers Market in downtown Olympia.

PBIA Advisory Board Chair Melissa Hammond said that the board would publish the call for proposals along several channels, and then select the most qualified among the applicants.

“We will notify everybody. I'll have about a month to get their proposals together then I'd like to have you be part of a selection committee to review the proposals, and then the selection committee decides what our top two or three [are] and then have a little interview just to kind of meet them and then select from there,” Hammond said.

Each proposal will be evaluated using the following criteria:

• Demonstrated relevant experience.
• Quality of the proposal. (Creative approaches, realistic, proactive approach to outreach)
• Approach to fostering diversity and equity as part of outreach and promotion.
• Cover letter and description of why you are the best fit to manage this process.
• Quality of the submittal, including organization, completeness, relevance, and clarity.

PBIA hopes to create a festive environment and encourage the community to support local creatives and businesses with this project.

The selected entity is scheduled to start work in July.