Residents shop for organic produce at a farmers market near the Ellen Linson Swimming Pool. Another market is situated near the campus.

As the farmers market prepares to set up for its third year outside City Hall, city officials hope more than $28,000 in funding will help the market leverage its community appeal.

The College Park City Council unanimously voted Tuesday night to approve hiring KSM Marketing to promote the Sunday farmers market to potential area vendors. To show support, the College Park Management Authority has also donated $5,000 to help create the new farmers market master position, said Economic Development Coordinator Michael Stiefvater. The company will also use fliers and social media to advertise the market, which will open every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. beginning April 14.

“We want to make it a really exciting event and something that everyone looks forward to every weekend,” Stiefvater said. “We like the market at its current form, but our hope is that it becomes even better.”

Kelly Morris, KSM Marketing’s president, will take on the title of city farmers market master. She has already developed two other markets in the area — one in Washington’s Ward 7 and the other downtown in the district.

“My goals are to establish and build the market into one that the community can be proud of,” Morris said. “I’m meeting with the city next week and we’ll be developing those ideas and their goals and ways we can implement them.”

Some of Morris’ proposed plans include bringing in a nutritionist and hosting chef demonstrations to make the installation a “community gathering place” on Sundays.

KSM was the only company to apply for the position by the city’s deadline, but committee members were impressed by the success Morris has seen in the past.

“[Morris] is a very energetic entrepreneur,” said farmers market committee member Robert Boone, a city resident. “By that, I mean she gets paid by what she does and the results she produces.”

A viable farmers market in the city could build a strong economy with “local food locally produced,” according to Boone, which would be great for College Park in the long run.

“It builds an economic base in the community, and you don’t know how important this is,” Boone said.

Two other candidates applied late for the position and requested three to seven times more money than KSM Marketing.

The market committee, made up of four to six members, has found successful setups in the area have a market master in charge of obtaining more vendors and developing competition, Stiefvater said.

“There are a lot of things to be excited about, but we know that we can add a lot more,” said College Park Mayor Andy Fellows. “This is one of them — farmers markets are great.”

Josh Ratner, the College Park City Council’s student liaison, agreed hiring a marketing firm for the growing city farmers market was “definitely a good start” to enhancing the city’s appeal.

“The city needs to rebrand itself,” Ratner said. “A big part of encouraging development is getting people to live here.”