CEO of the year: Brian Coppom left corporate America to lead Boulder county farmers markets.

• Author: Peterson, Eric

BRIAN COPPOM

WORKED CORPORATE JOBS IN PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT, INDUSTRIAL DESIGN AND TELECOM BEFORE PLANTING ROOTS IN AN ENTIRELY NEW INDUSTRY IN OCTOBER 2013: LOCAL AGRICULTURE.

"It was 100 percent travel and I was not really happy," he says of his previous endeavor. "I felt I had spent years and years chasing money."

Around this time his wife, Nancy, signed up for Ollin Farms' community-supported agriculture (CSA) program and Coppom heard a second calling. "I really liked going to the CSA pickups on the farm," he says. "I felt peace on the farm."

Coppom started working at the Longmont Farmers Market on Saturday mornings after his wife launched an organic bakery in 2012. "She's not an early-morning person," says Coppom, 51, so he started showing up at the crack of dawn to set up the bakery's booth and immediately felt at home. "What really struck me was how friendly the vendors were," he says. "It wasn't dog-eat-dog like telecom. These people really have a lot of respect for each other."

In fact, it was such a departure from the "compare-and-despair" corporate mentality, that he jumped at the opportunity to switch career paths and join the nonprofit Boulder County Farmers Markets (BCFM).

In mid-2013, the executive director position opened for the third time in less than three years amidst a tumultuous time for the legendary markets in Boulder and Longmont. When Nancy forwarded him an email hunting for a new director, asking, "Do you want to run the farmers market?" Coppom replied, "Hell yeah, I do."

NEW LEADERSHIP

Coppom threw his unlikely hat in the ring in the midst of a national search, played up his experience in finance and governance, and landed the gig at a trying time. "I joined a month after the [2013] floods," he says. "There was a lot of need." The organization canceled only one market because of the deluge, but many farmers were hit hard.

The markets work with 150 vendors and require farmers to work at their own booths. Only about 20 percent of such local food and craft fairs in the country have a "growers-only" policy, Coppom says. "I feel strongly that is one of the biggest assets we have. It leads to customer trust. I would like to see every farmers market in the country be farmers-only."

It's all about making a connection with food that's so often lost in the modern world. "I want everybody to have that experience," he says. "It's something I can't really describe that connection - but when you make it, it's palpable.

"A lot of...