NCIMS Pre-Conference Planning Funding Support Request

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2021 NCIMS Project Summary The National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments (NCIMS) is a non-profit educational organization composed of state, local and federal regulatory officials responsible for milk sanitation rating and enforcement of Grade A milk sanitation laws, dairy industry personnel, academic researchers, advisors, and consumers. Typically, the Conference meets biennially in odd-numbered years, but due to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic public health emergency it is postponed from 2021 until April 2022. The primary business of the Conference is to deliberate proposals submitted by individuals from various regulatory agencies and from the dairy industry, who have an interest in ensuring that the dairy products available for sale and consumed throughout the United States are safe. The mission of the NCIMS is “To Assure the Safest Possible Milk Supply for All the People.” The Conference business can only be accomplished with an in-person meeting to allow for robust debate, transparency and input from all interested parties and delegates from each of the fifty states and one United States Trust Territory that participate in the Interstate Milk Shippers program and send a delegate to make final decisions on the various proposals that are submitted. The state delegates and Executive Board approved an action to reschedule the Conference until April 2022 due to ongoing concerns from the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to COVID-19 the NCIMS is experiencing financial constraints as the primary source of revenue is from Conference registrations which will not occur until 2022. The NCIMS has and will encounter additional administrative expenses for planning, research, and logistics to ensure the necessary safety constraints and protocols are in place to hold a conference safely and successfully for more than 300 attendees. The grant will allow NCIMS to properly plan and prepare for the Conference that will be held at the J.W. Marriott in Indianapolis, IN in April 2022. Funds from the grant will be used to pay administrative costs, salary of the NCIMS staff that organizes and plans the Conference and travel cost for staff and Officers to inspect conference meeting space and plan and appropriately adapt the Conference operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic and communicate these changes to potential Conference attendees.