Welcome to the Home Page of the Nebraska Planning Conference
Thank you for attending the 2026 Nebraska Planning Conference!
TThank you to the sponsors and everyone who attended this year’s Nebraska Planning Conference. NEPC26 turned out to be a great conference! We look forward to the next Nebraska Planning Conference to be held March 3-5, 2027 at Younes Conference Center.
2026 Nebraska Planning Conference Sponsors
What is the Nebraska Planning Conference?
The annual Nebraska Planning Conference provides local planning officials, planners, attorneys, and citizens, with the information necessary to apply sound planning principles in their counties, villages, and municipalities. The Conference offers many choices for learning from institute topics to hands-on charrettes. It is also an excellent time to network, meet new people, and catch up with old friends.
Each conference session will be led by one of our experts on a specific planning topic, developed around emerging and continually challenging issues in the field of planning. Conference-session presenters range from planners, attorneys, and professors to consultants and engineers, all of whom are locally or nationally recognized for their efforts in the field of planning.
The Basics
Here is some basic information about the upcoming 2027 Nebraska Planning Conference:
- March 3-5 at the Younes North Conference Center, Kearney
- Registration Opens: January 15, 2027
- Conference Hotel:
- Crown Plaza
2026 Nebraska Planning Conference Photos
See Pictures from Previous Nebraska Planning Conferences
Click on the plus (+) sign below to expand each selection.
Become a Sponsor of the 2026 Nebraska Planning Conference!
Platinum Plus Level – $1000 – Sponsor is entitled to conference recognition; advertisement on NPZA website; a booth at the conference; a one-year NPZA membership; and two (3) conference registrations.
Platinum Level – $750 – Sponsor is entitled to conference recognition; advertisement on NPZA website; a booth at the conference; a one-year NPZA membership; and two (2) conference registrations.
Gold Level – $500 – Sponsor is entitled to conference recognition; advertisement on NPZA website; a booth at the conference, and one (1) conference registration.
Silver Level – $350 – Sponsor is entitled to conference recognition; and a booth at the conference.
Bronze Level – $250 – Sponsor is entitled to conference recognition; and advertisement on NPZA website.
*Attendees who use the free conference registrations will still need to register for the conference through the conference registration system.
Crowne Plaza Kearney
Address: 707 W Talmadge Rd, Kearney, NE 68845
Phone: (308) 238-7000
Ask for the “NPZA Conference” or “Nebraska Planning Conference” room block. The room block rate for 2026 will be $159.95. But don’t wait too long, the block will close.
(Update: The Crown Plaza is SOLD OUT. The Holiday Inn has a block of 20 rooms available for the same price. This room block will close February 20th, so don’t delay)
The 2026 application period for the Donna Lynam First Time Attendee Scholarship has closed.
The 2026 Conference Program will be available in February 2026.
- Hospitality Room
- Bronze 1 (Wednesday: 5:30 PM – 11:45 PM)
- Pints with Planners Networking Event
- Thunderhead Brewing (Wednesday: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM)
- Hospitality Room
- Bronze 1 (Thursday 4:00 – 5:00 PM)
- Kearney Jazz Society
- Banquet Hall (Thursday: 5:00 – 6:30 PM)
- Awards Banquet
- Banquet Hall (Thursday: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM)
- Hospitality Room
- Bronze 1 (Thursday: 8:00 PM – 11:45 PM)
- Cornhole Tournament Scholarship Fundraiser
- Exhibitor Hall (Thursday: 8:00 PM – 11:00 PM)
The Nebraska Planning Conference is keyed to providing local planning officials from commissioners to elected officials to appointed officials to citizens to attorneys, which are rookies or veterans committed to the continuous development of sound planning principles for their counties and municipalities. It also offers many choices for the professional planners, which assist the volunteer planners, in expanding their knowledge of planning disciplines through the Nebraska Chapter of the American Planning Association.
Your community /organization is encouraged to support NPZA as a 2026 member. Join NPZA
Additional Information…contact treasurer@npza.org.
Steve Charleston, NPZA Membership Secretary/Treasurer.
Save the dates for future conferences
- March 3-5, 2027 at the Younes Conference Center North
- March 8-10, 2028 at the Younes Conference Center North
- March 7-9, 2029 at the Younes Conference Center North