Proposals Sought for Montana Co-op Development Center Home

The Montana Department of Agriculture is asking Montana
cooperatives and cooperative-supportive organizations for proposals to house
the Montana Cooperative Development Center.

Written proposals to host the center must arrive at the State Procurement
Bureau’s offices by 2 p.m. on October 21, 2003. The center has been housed
temporarily at the Montana Department of Agriculture after a move from Havre
on July 1, 2003.

Department Director Ralph Peck said his goal is to find a new permanent home
for the Montana Cooperative Development Center by January 1, 2004. The
center’s advisory council voted Sept. 8 to issue a formal request for
proposals (RFP) to house the center and provide some negotiable support
services.

The advisory council expressed a preference for attaching the center to an
existing cooperative, an association of co-ops or an organization that works
to support cooperative endeavors in Montana.

The formal request and information about the RFP can be found on a Montana
state website at:
<http://www.discoveringmontana.com/doa/gsd/osbs/results.asp?categoryID=11>.
Interested organizations may contact Brad Sanders of the Department of
Administration at or by phone at (406)
444-2575. Sanders is the procurement officer and the sole contact for
questions regarding this RFP.

The Montana Cooperative Development Center is a statewide resource for
community-based development and assistance in Montana. Its mission is to
develop, promote and coordinate educational programs, technical assistance
and research on the cooperative form of business.

As a strategy to improve the rural economy in Montana, the center focuses on
cooperatively organized enterprises that implement "value added" processing
of Montana’s raw agricultural, forestry, energy and mineral products.

For other information about the development center, contact the department
(406) 444-2402 or by e-mail at .