Seeking Consultant for Producer Hub Developement

Transplanting Traditions Community Farm

Project Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Application:

1. Please send resume and cover letter to info@TransplantingTraditions.org by April 28, 2025.

2. We will reach out to prospective candidates for a 30 minute interview and to answer candidate questions about the project

3. We will then reach out to prospective candidates to provide a Request for Proposals. We are seeking a packaged cost based proposal from candidates broken down by the scope of work below.

Timeline: May 1 - September 30, 2025

Organizational Description:

The mission of Transplanting Traditions Community Farm (TTCF) is to uplift food sovereignty in the refugee community through access to land, education and opportunities for refugee farmers to address community food insecurity and the barriers they face in reaching their dreams of farming. The farm provides a cultural community space for refugee adults and youth to come together, recreate home and build healthy communities, and continue agricultural traditions in the North Carolina Piedmont. We envision a world in which all people have access to healthy affordable food, land, education, satisfying work, a space to celebrate culture, and a place to build strong, resilient communities.

Project Description:

With a 16 year history of working with the refugee community, and now in its 7th year as an independent 501c3 organization, Transplanting Traditions is at a pivotal phase of organizational development. TTCF operates an incubator farm which provides participating farmers with shared land, farm infrastructure and education as well as direct business management support in crucial areas that are challenging to refugee ESOL farmers including; marketing, customer communication and relations, accounting and management of aggregated sales for a CSA & wholesale food hub. Since 2012, TTCF has been operating a Food Hub for farmers who operate businesses from the incubator, aggregating farmer products to sell to customers, food pantries, restaurants and grocery stores.

In the last couple of years, TTCF has built on the model of the Food Hub by developing a Producer Hub that will aggregate business management activities for farmers in a “fee for service” type model. Up until now, these services have been provided to farmers at no cost, however changes to this free model are motivated by a need for increased non-profit organizational financial sustainability as well as long-term security for farmer businesses. The goal of the Producer Hub is to create affordable business management solutions for farmers who participate in the Producer Hub by aggregating business management services. The ultimate goal is to create more security and independence for farm businesses, sustainability for the organization, while also providing a culturally appropriate solution to the business challenges ESOL farmers face.

Note: a piloted Hub structure was developed by TTCF staff in February 2025 and therefore provides a strong existing foundation for this work. The goal of this work is to improve and strengthen the piloted Hub for implementation by January 1, 2026

Project Objectives

Hub Research and Development

Phase I

Timeline May-June

Analyze the piloted Hub model to identify potential gaps, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Research other similar or existing aggregated business management Hub like systems with the goal of strengthening and improving the piloted Hub model.

Work with stakeholders to identify and then investigate key Hub structural development questions.

Work with TTCF (stakeholders) staff and farmers to understand gaps in the Hub’s “fee for service” business model as well as research answers to key questions.

Development of focus groups or other feedback collection methods with farmer participants and staff to gather concerns, questions and input regarding the Hub and the “fee for service” model

Define scope and responsibility of the Hub as it differs from non-profit activities. Research pros and cons of potential legal structures (for example LLC) to house the Hub vs the Hub remaining an addendum to TTCF’s 501(c)3

Phase II

Timeline: July-August

Using the research, focus groups and other findings from Phase I, finalize the Hub “fee for service” model prioritizing financially sustainability and management of the Hub for the organization while also being as low cost as possible for farmers.

Present findings to staff to identify any further questions and fine tuning as needed.

Facilitate the co-creation of shared agreements between farmers and non profit staff around fee for service model and division of responsibilities

Define necessary staff capacity in management of the Hub and a realistic and feasible Hub management plan that works synchronistically with the management of non-profit activities.

Phase III

Timeline: September

Work with TTCF finance and accounting team to develop a streamlined accounting and management system for the Hub.

Develop Popular Education and/or ESOL visually focused communication materials for farmers to explain the Hub and the “fee for service” components.

Develop a detailed overview manual or guide of the Hub and the “fee for service” model for use in communicating to the public, TTCF staff and other stakeholders.●

Develop considerations for replicating and scaling the Hub - including considerations of the needs, limitations and future development needed to serve other farmers outside of the main TTCF Orange county site

Desired Characteristics & Qualifications of Consultant

Understanding of non-profit structure and the challenges and opportunities that face the non-profit sector.

Highly organized, detail oriented and clear communication skills

Flexibility and willingness to designing the work as needs and information develop and arise

Ability to design assessments and/or conduct interviews with primary TTCF stakeholders

Experience working in food systems, with farms or farmers or more specifically with a food hub

Facilitation skills and prior experience in working with multilingual communities

Creativity, popular education or alternative education skills or prior experience

Commitment to working with an organization that is actively resisting white supremacist and/or colonizer organizational operations and cultural practices

TTCF will provide:

Open and clear channels of communication and feedback

Regular meetings and feedback to the contractor regarding ongoing Hub development to ensure alignment of organizational vision and goal.

Staff support in implementation including extensive information on the vision and goals for the Hub

Each of these objectives are supported by a number of activities aimed at first understanding non-profit program structure and the incubator farms current operation structure. Using the piloted Hub model as a basis to consider pros and cons and possible improvements from every angle while also keeping the main goals of affordability for the farmers and sustainability for the organization in mind. Every step of the process is analyzed and acted on with the goal of long-term farmer success, with the aim of supporting a successful operational transition, rather than enacting a quick transition that installs changes without the foundation in place for the hub to be sustainable in the long term. We prioritize growing at the speed of trust, creating participant buy-in, centering language justice and cultural competency at all times, and expect that the contractor will do the same.