USDA Rural Business-Cooperative Service Administrator Sam Rikkers will be the keynote luncheon speaker at the 2nd Annual Local Foods for Local Tables Conference. The conference is being hosted by Nebraska U.S. Congressman Brad Ashford on Aug. 19, 2016, in Omaha. The luncheon is being hosted by the USDA Nebraska Food and Agriculture Council.
Rikkers was appointed Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS) Administrator in December 2015. As part of his portfolio, Rikkers leads the local foods effort for USDA’s Rural Development agency.
Before joining the USDA, Rikkers served as Director of the Energy and Environment Team in the White House’s Presidential Personnel Office. Prior to this position, Sam served as Regional Field Director in Wisconsin for President Obama’s re-election campaign. From 2007 to 2012, he was an attorney with a commercial litigation firm in New York City that specialized in antitrust and First Amendment law. Before practicing law, Rikkers worked as a community and political organizer nationally and internationally.
Administrator Rikkers earned a J.D. from the University of Wisconsin, a M.A. in International Affairs from Columbia University and a B.A. in Political Science and Philosophy from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. He also served as a volunteer with the US Peace Corps in rural Zambia. Rikkers is from a small town in Southern Wisconsin.
The day-long conference will take place at the Scott Conference Center, located at 6450 Pine Street in Omaha. It is free and open to the public. The morning sessions will focus on policy discussion related to urban agriculture, while the afternoon sessions will feature experts discussing business tools in one track and gardening basics and other practical tips in another track.
For more information on the event, including a detailed agenda, go to: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/congressman-brad-ashfords-2nd-annual-local-foods-for-local-tables-registration-26446119054.