Marketplace, Nebraska's premier entrepreneurship event, returns for the sixth consecutive year and will take place at the Ramada Convention Center in Kearney, Nebraska on Wednesday, February 22, 2012. And the Center for Rural Affairs strives to make the meals served in conjunction with MarketPlace and other gatherings another entrepreneurial experience by serving locally produced food and directly support the family farmers and ranchers and rural communities the Center fights for everyday. In recent years, the Center has worked to expand their sourcing to include as many locally produced ingredients as possible. 

The Request for Proposals (RFP) is posted online at http://files.cfra.org/pdf/ne-mp-12-food-rfp.pdf. Proposals must be received by Kelsey Supenski by January 14, 2012 in order to be considered this year.

The MarketPlace conference is an event focused on strengthening small businesses and rural communities. Attendees of MarketPlace will learn essential business skills; network with service providers and other entrepreneurs, including agricultural entrepreneurs; and discover new ideas that work for small businesses and communities. There will be over 500 in attendance.

 "This is a great opportunity for producers to get market exposure for their products," commented Kelsey Supenski with the Center for Rural Affairs. "And it makes sense that a conference for rural Nebraska entrepreneurs would utilize products from rural Nebraska food entrepreneurs."

 According to Supenski, the Center is not asking for specific items as the menu will be based around what is available from producers selected through this RFP. With this conference being held during the non-growing month of February, the Center is hoping to source some storable crops from local producers that can plan to store the amounts needed.

Items the Center are looking for could include meat items (such as chicken, beef, pork, fish, etc...), vegetables (such as potatoes, squash, beans, onions, etc…), leaf lettuce for a green salad, locally roasted fair trade coffee, locally grown fruits (citrus, tomatoes, etc…),popcorn, and locally made pastries and cookies.

Proposals must include a short biography of farm/ranch/business, which event (morning break, lunch, afternoon break) the producer is looking to provide products for, list of product(s) producer can supply, the quantity the producer is able to supply, and product prices. If submitting a proposal for supplying pastries or cookies, please include a description of any ingredients that are produced locally. If submitting a proposal for supplying locally roasted, fair trade coffee, provide information relating to the fair trade certification. And the proposal must include full contact information of principal proposal contact.

Proposals may be submitted electronically or by US Postal Service. If sent through US Postal Service, they must be postmarked by January 14, 2012 and sent to: Kelsey Supenski, 391 W. Charleston St, Apt 223, Lincoln, NE 68528.

For more information contact, Kelsey Supenski, kelseys@cfra.org, Phone: (402)206-1657.

Visit: http://www.cfra.org/marketplace/ne-12 for more on MarketPlace. 

The Center for Rural Affairs and the USDA Rural Development are Equal Opportunity Providers, Employers, and Lenders.