CHN Nebraska

CHN Nebraska, doing business as Center For Nutrition And Health Impact, is a tax-exempt nonprofit organization based in Elkhorn, Nebraska that provides nutrition program evaluation, technical assistance, workforce development training, and health research services to federal health and food security agencies as a prime recipient on federal grants (35% of recent awards) and as a subrecipient on nutrition-focused research grants (65%). The vendor operates across the Department of Agriculture, Department of Health and Human Services (primarily the National Institutes of Health), and the Indian Health Service with no set-aside designations applied to recent work.

CHN Nebraska's customer concentration sits with research and food security agencies rather than contract vehicles. The top five funding agencies account for 85% of awards, led jointly by the Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (6 awards) and the Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health National Institute for Minority Health and Health Disparities (6 awards), followed by the National Institute of Nursing Research (4 awards), the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (3 awards), and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (3 awards). By potential value, the Indian Health Service dominates with a $975,933 purchase order awarded September 30, 2026 for the IHS Produce Prescription Pilot Program Support Contract, concluding September 29, 2027. The remaining awards cluster in smaller grant amounts across USDA and NIH agencies.

CHN Nebraska's grant work centers on nutrition incentive programs, WIC workforce strategy, and food access research. As prime recipient, the vendor leads a five-year Cooperative Agreement with the USDA Institute of Food Safety and Nutrition (award date September 1, 2023, concluding August 31, 2027) to provide training, technical assistance, and evaluation for the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GUSNIP) through the Nutrition Incentive Training, Technical Assistance, Evaluation, and Information (NTAE) Center, operating in partnership with Fair Food Network and University of California San Francisco. A second five-year Cooperative Agreement awarded September 15, 2024 supports WIC Workforce Technical Assistance and Capacity Building (WETAC), assembling expert technical assistance to WIC implementation grantees using culturally responsive models, advancing evidence-based workforce strategies, and integrating traditional ecological knowledge into engagement plans. CHN Nebraska also received a $29 million formula grant from USDA Food and Nutrition Service (award date March 31, 2023, concluding March 31, 2027) to enhance WIC program infrastructure in Nebraska. As subrecipient, CHN Nebraska participates in nutrition and health research grants led by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Harvard Medical School's General Hospital Corporation, the University System of New Hampshire, and the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska, contributing evaluation expertise, research leadership, and data analysis on diabetes management, food access, and WIC policy impact assessment.

Activity has been modest but consistent, with six awards in 2023, eight in 2024, declining to four in both 2025 and 2026. Three awards totaling $976 thousand in combined potential value conclude within the next twenty-four months and face recompete. On the contract side, CHN Nebraska performed evaluation work as a subcontractor to Family Health International for the National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research (NCCOR) Coordinating Center (award date February 12, 2024), developing interview guides and conducting key informant interviews for strategic planning.