New Mercado Director Excited About Moline Reopening, Expansion to Davenport
After a year with no downtown Moline market, Mercado on Fifth is back to bringing its family-friendly festivities starting this Friday, and a new director is excited to expand the market to downtown Davenport.
Rocha is a 37-year-old native of Moline, who’s married with three children.
Mercado on Fifth in Moline (5th Avenue in the area of 11th to 12th streets) will run 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. every Friday, June 4 – Sept. 24. The new Mercado en el Rio in Davenport (Quinlan Court, off River Drive between Brady and Perry streets) will run 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. every second Saturday, June through October.
Like other canceled events in 2020, many people missed not having Mercado last year, director Anamaria Rocha (on the job since March) said this week. “A lot of people are anxious to get out. I’ve had a lot of people tell me it is where they get to see their friends,” she said. “It is such a family environment that it’s a great place to take your kids and it’s an evening for everyone. So a lot of people definitely do miss that, and I’ve heard a lot of very positive feedback and a lot of excitement going into opening day.”
Mercado is asking patrons to wear masks while moving around for its first two Fridays.
The new Mercado on Fifth will include Covid protocols like masks and social distancing, Rocha said.
“I feel that at this stage, we’re all pretty used to going to places and having those things in place, as far as mask requirements, social distancing, trying to congregate with your family, and your family members and people of your household and your friends,” she said. “So we will be doing pretty much the same thing as everyone else have done as they have been navigating Covid-19.
Mercado will maintain the same number of food and other vendors as before, since Illinois is in the Bridge Phase of Covid restrictions, Rocha said.
For the first two events in Moline, there will be bands that are able to walk around the premises to play for patrons who are seated
Maria Ontiveros is co-founder and president of Mercado on Fifth.
all across the grounds. The band’s mobility will prevent large crowds gathering near the stage area.
“We are encouraging patrons to bring their own lawn chairs so that they can be assured a seat, although we will still provide seating as well,” Mercado president Maria Ontiveros said.
The event is permitted 30 people per 1,000 square feet, so given Mercado’s space, they can reach around 1,800 in capacity, she said. “On average, we have less than 1,000 people in attendance at any given time, and therefore we will not be keeping a count at the door.”
Patrons will see signage at the entrances asking patrons to wear marks until eating while seated. There will be sanitizer available at every vendor booth and in other areas across the grounds, and two hand sinks will be available outside the bathrooms.
Not having musical entertainment on a fixed stage will help prevent people from congregating in a large group, Rocha said.
“Because the musicians will be traveling throughout, you really can just walk in your area, and you’ll get to experience them and enjoy them a lot closer to you, and at eye level,” she said. “I’m hoping that that will help, and it’s very traditional entertainment as well.”
Even though the ranks of fully vaccinated people grow by the day, Mercado is asking people to keep wearing their mask while they move around and they’re free to remove them while seated.
“Since we will not be asking people for proof of vaccinations, it just seems a lot easier to say that you can remove your mask when you’re sitting,” Rocha said. “So everyone just feels comfortable. And it’s a lot more manageable as well. It just again, it seems to be something that
Anamaria Rocha became Mercado’s director in March 2021.
we’re all very much used to and even when you go into Iowa, people that are still wearing the masks even there.”
“Hopefully, if we can just get past these next couple of weeks and hopefully, the state reopens, then we won’t have to worry about that,” Rocha said, noting Illinois expects to fully open June 11 with no event capacity limits or mask requirements.
The new Mercado in downtown Davenport will start Saturday, June 12, and be the second Saturday each month.
“It is a great opportunity for us, it’s newly constructed,” Rocha said of the large, flexible event space, Quinlan Court. “We will be the first organization to utilize the space. The layout is ideally set up for a similar event. So we are very excited about that. There’s already electricity, there’s LED lighting. There’s seating built into the planters throughout the space and you get a river view. So it’s a nice spot for us to do an extension of Mercado.”
They didn’t want to start weekly in Davenport, to launch first and see how it’s received by the public, she said.
“So we played it safe and we’re hoping to still even though it is just a second Saturday, to still create an impact in Davenport and get a feel for what our future years in Davenport will look like — whether that’s a weekly event or a couple of times a month,” Rocha said. “We’re still kind of unsure but it will give us enough opportunity to see what it’s like over there.
“There’s a lot of people that go, but the Quad-Cities are so large that I feel that there is still a large population that isn’t familiar with Mercado and will potentially get exposed to it in Davenport,” she said.
There will be some overlap in vendors between the two locations, but there will be some exclusive to each, Rocha said.
“So that’s also exciting that we are giving vendors the opportunity to add another event to their calendar and more opportunity for revenue,” she said.
A family deeply rooted in Moline
Rocha’s entire life seems to have led her to exactly where she is now.
A 37-year-old native of the Quad-Cities, she’s one of seven children in her family who grew up in Moline’s Floreciente neighborhood. Her parents immigrated to the Q-C in the early ‘70s from Guanajuato, Mexico – a region from which many area Hispanic residents came.
Rocha worked for the cities of Moline and Rock Island before becoming Mercado’s new director.
“We could not have found a better person for the Mercado at this stage,” Maria Ontiveros said when Rocha was named. “Not only does Anamaria bring the skills needed to grow the organization, but she is passionate about Mexican culture and well-connected in the Quad-Cities Hispanic community.”
Rocha, whose work experience includes positions with the economic and community development departments in Moline and Rock Island, is the Mercado’s second director. Melissa Friedhof-Rodgers was the first – hired in fall 2019 and let go last June because of the cancellation of Mercado’s events.
While working with the city of Moline, Rocha created an online business resource guide aimed to help aspiring Hispanic business owners that is still in use. “I’m very passionate about helping Hispanics start their own businesses, and Mercado is a resource for that,” she said.
Rocha is a graduate of Moline High School and the former Kaplan University in Davenport. She also studied international business at the University of Arkansas. Married to Marco Rocha (who works in construction), the couple lives in the Q-C with their three children: daughter Exayra, 12; and sons Messi, 10, and 2-year-old Jaxán.
She worked for the city of Moline when Mercado started their pilot season in 2016. “I was able to be a part of those initial conversations and see the idea just coming into fruition,” Rocha said. “So it’s something that I was generally a part of and a big supporter of since its very early stages.”
Mercado on Fifth begins its fifth season in downtown Molne on Friday, June 4.
“Being an employee of the planning and development department at the city of Moline, I learned a lot about what is required for organizations like that to be successful,” she said. “Having that background and being able to contribute to its mission is very appealing.
In addition to city government, she worked six years as a paralegal for several Quad-Cities’ law firms. She was with Califf & Harper in Moline when the firm began an immigration law practice. She also previously was a court translator in Rock Island and Scott counties and a translator for UnityPoint Health –Trinity.
Working for Rock Island’s community development staff, Rocha was tasked with helping attract more Hispanic residents to the city and served as the city’s housing and loan program officer. After Covid hit in 2020, she left her city job and sidelined plans to return to college to help her children with their remote learning.
So far in the new job, Rocha is enjoying talking to a lot of people and helping them.
“The feedback in assisting people is very rewarding. It’s fulfilling to know that you’re able to contribute to someone’s dreams,” she said. “And the excitement of even just of the entertainment, bringing something new with a band that hasn’t been in the Quad-Cities, to know that excitement too hearing that feedback, that’s also very rewarding, because I get to be a part of an event that has so many different components.
“It means something different for everyone. I feel like if you’re there for the food, if you’re there to start your own business and to have a booth space, it means something different to you,” Rocha said. “It has a lot of rewarding components and there’s so many factors to be proud of.”
Much more than a market
While “Mercado” means market in Spanish, Mercado on Fifth is much more than a weekly open-air event that celebrates culture and community.
The new Mercado en el Rio market will start in downtown Davenport Saturday, June 12.
Since Mercado was launched in 2016 by Ontiveros and her grandfather, Bob Ontiveros, founder of Group O, the organization has served as a platform for more than 100 small businesses and nonprofits.
Working with its community partners, including Black Hawk College and the Illinois Small Business Development Center at Western Illinois University–Quad Cities, the Mercado has assisted over 25 new minority-owned startup businesses.
The 2019 attendance (from May through September) for its Friday night events was 20,000, compared to 16,000 in 2018.
Educational programming at Mercado provides enrichment hours for children, and free nonprofit booth space gets helpful information to adults, according to mercadoonfifth.org.
Most vendors have taken advantage of the free small business workshops (in Spanish and English) in partnership with the Illinois Small Business Development Center at Western Illinois University (SBDC). Through the management of the SBDC, Mercado started a micro-grant
The Davenport City Council named the flexible event space (for food trucks and outdoor markets) Quinlan Court after the iconic ferry that used to cross the Mississippi River at this location.
program for minority entrepreneurs to purchase equipment for their businesses.
Over the past two years, Mercado founder Bob Ontiveros has given away over $62,000 to over 40 minority-owned businesses to purchase anything from food warmers to an industrial sewing machine, the group says.
Black Hawk College also began offering the Food Sanitation Management class in Spanish at the request of Mercado leadership. Previously, Spanish speakers interested in becoming a kitchen manager or starting a food business had to drive to Chicago to take the class.
Finally, Mercado on Fifth supported the creation of a commercial kitchen located within St. John’s Lutheran Church just blocks away from the Moline event space, completing the entrepreneurial eco-system, the website says. Mercado vendors and other small businesses now rent the kitchen for a small hourly fee.
“Another part of Mercado’s core mission is to foster community and cultural pride in the Quad-Cities,” the site says. “Mercado’s weekly summer events provide a unique family-friendly space where visitors can enjoy Latin food, music and art.
“The burst of activity on Fifth Avenue every Friday evening brings people together in a refreshing way, attracting all ages and ethnicities. Mercado on Fifth is currently the only nonprofit organization committed to bringing Latin cultural acts to our region.”
“Our inclusive events have claimed space for the Latin community at a prime location on the edge of downtown Moline,” the site says. “Previously, the under-represented population was not visible at large community events and gatherings. We hope our efforts have and will continue to create a bridge for Latinx people to be more active in the community. The bridge also links non-Latinx community members to
The Mercado events at Quinlan Court (off River Drive between Brady and Perry) will be on second Saturdays through October, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
the rich and vibrant cultural heritage represented at Mercado.”
Mercado on Fifth is also dedicated to providing educational opportunities. Over the past four years, Mercado has partnered with The Family Museum, Putnam Museum, Moline Public Library, streamline architects, Nahant Marsh, Moline Fire Department, WQPT and Read Moline to engage children at Mercado in summer enrichment activities.
STEM activities have included robot programming and spaghetti and marshmallow towers that had to withstand simulated earthquakes. Read Moline gave away over 1,500 books in Spanish
Mercado plans to open its renovated, year-round building at 423 12th St., Moline, in 2022.
and English during the last two seasons. Nahant Marsh connected children with our local natural environment, by bringing live animals and educational materials to Mercado.
More than 30 nonprofit organizations have been provided free booth spaces to pass out educational and outreach materials to local families. Organizations include Family Resources, Gigi’s Playhouse, Habitat for Humanity, UnityPoint Health, Big Brothers Big Sisters and Palomares Social Justice Center.
In late 2019, Mercado, with real estate development group West Gateway Partners LLC, bought the 100-year-old former Car Shop Inc. at 423 12th St., Moline, next to the organization’s outdoor property.
Mercado and West Gateway, both managed by members of the Ontiveros family, are renovating the 6,300-square-foot building into a business incubator and event space at a cost of over $500,000, including a new outdoor patio.
Mercado hopes to open the new year-round indoor market in 2022, and they’re still raising money to furnish and decorate the interior, Rocha said. You can make a donation at www.mercadoonfifth.org/become-a-sponsor.
Anyone interested in becoming a Mercado vendor should contact Rocha at 305.934.5297 or anamaria@mercadoonfifth.org.
