Market at the Mount to teach business to vendors, students at Mount Mercy University

It's shopping season, and a first-time event on Saturday both encourages buying local and serves as a teaching tool for students at Mount Mercy University.

Market at the Mount will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Sisters of Mercy University Center. The event is free and open to the public.

'It's great to have local vendors be able to sell to students on campus that might not have the chance to get off campus too much, especially around finals,” he said. 'I think it's even more important, though, for students to see that their ideas and passions can become a reality even if it starts small. It is so energizing to see and hear the excitement of an entrepreneur as they talk about their trade or craft. This project is giving students hands-on experience in community building and service that they can take with them when they graduate,” said event organizer and Mount Mercy business professor Nate Klein.

The event will feature about a dozen local vendors selling everything from handmade signs and custom jewelry to essential oils and 2-D artwork.

'Shoppers will love the eclectic mix of local vendors that will fit any last-minute holes people may have in their Christmas lists,” Klein said. 'And for students, they will probably love a break from studying for finals they have the following week and a chance to get any last-minute gifts for family and friends before they go home.”

There will even be breakfast burritos reminiscent of the Cedar Rapids Downtown Farmers Market.

It was the downtown market, in fact, that inspired the event, Klein said. He wanted to offer a venue for summer market vendors over the holidays. So he brought the concept to Enactus, a cross- discipline student organization that develops leadership through free enterprise.

'In chatting with students on Mount Mercy's Enactus team, they agreed that it'd be a great idea to host a market of our own to give local vendors a chance to expand their reach for the holidays. They took the idea and ran with it,” Klein said.

Students created a logo, contacted vendors and marketed the event. Students also will help the day of the event. But their involvement won't end there.

'After the event, the Enactus team is going to follow up with the vendors, not only to gauge the success of the day, but to reach out to see how the participating vendors might benefit from ongoing education and support that many small businesses are in need of,” Klein said.

They also plan to hold workshops following future events to help vendors and artisans with social media marketing, supply management and customer loyalty.

'By doing projects like this you gain experiences you could never get from sitting in a classroom,” said Kelsey Kuester, a senior studying health care administration at Mount Mercy. 'It allows you to make contacts with people who are out in the business world which could help you in the future. Plus, I've learned that teamwork goes a long way in getting something like this started.”