The committee working to organize Jefferson’s RAGBRAI® overnight has announced the fees that will be charged to vendors at the July 21 event.

Greene County food vendors and non-food vendors will be charged a $250 fee. The fee for out-of-county vendors is $600. A refundable $50 damage and cleanup deposit will be assessed to all vendors.

"We wanted to set the vendor fees as low as possible, because we want all our businesses, churches and organizations to do well," said Chuck Offenburger, one of the Jefferson RAGBRAI® co-chairs. "In most RAGBRAI® host towns, the businesses have to pay a higher vendor fee than the non-profits, but in Jefferson, we decided we wanted to give our businesses an extra boost, since they are called on so often for financial support of community activities. So we made their vendor fee the same as the non-profits will pay. And we also have set significantly higher fees for any vendors that want to come here from outside Greene County, so that our local groups and businesses have an advantage."

Each vendor will receive a booth that is 20 feet by 20 feet, and will be assessed a $75 fee for each additional 10 feet of space. Costs for electrical needs will be added, as well, and will be applied to all vendor booths that require electrical power. Most of those vendor booths will be located on and around the town, though some will be located in the campgrounds.

Jefferson will introduce a concept that is new to RAGBRAI®: a strolling vendor fee. Vendors who sell pre-packaged food and non-alcoholic beverages and are using a non-motorized method, such as walking bicycling, will pay a $75 fee. That would create opportunities for smaller groups to sell items that meet the criteria to riders in the campgrounds or other areas beyond the downtown district.

The vendor fees will help off-set the $106,000 in expenses that the RAGBRAI® Committee is projecting for additional law enforcement, very complicated electrical work, portable toilets and many other requirements of the event. Those expenses will be paid by the committee, not by city or county government, so various fundraisers are being planned.

"If businesses or groups manage their vending operations well, there's no reason they should not have extremely successful meals and booths,” Offenburger said. “They might be grossing 10 to 20 times what they pay in a vendor fee. But I want to stress, the hospitality we all show our RAGBRAI® visitors is far more important than how much money we make while they're here. Our goal is for Jefferson to be remembered as the friendliest, most fun town on RAGBRAI® this summer."