Kansas City is a finalist to be the new home of two USDA agencies, according to a news release from U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas.
Kansas City has made the list of finalists to be the home of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the Economic Research Service. Sen. Moran is a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture.
“After months of advocating to Secretary Perdue that these agencies ought to be in the Kansas City area, I’m pleased to see USDA listed Kansas City as a finalist to be the headquarters of these critical agencies. Kansas City is home to a highly-skilled workforce as a result of the state’s premier universities, research institutions, agricultural companies, and industry producer groups, and I am thrilled that it’s a finalist for USDA’s ERS and NIFA. The animal health corridor, stretching from Manhattan, Kansas to Columbia, Missouri, is the largest concentration of animal health companies in the world; our state is also the future home of the National Bio and Agro-defense Facility (NBAF), the nation’s foremost animal disease research facility.
“The concentration of animal health companies and location of NBAF will not only complement the research capabilities of NIFA and ERS, but have also fostered a talented workforce that will help meet the personnel needs of USDA,” Sen. Moran said in a news release. “As a member of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, I will continue advocating to Secretary Purdue and USDA that Kansas City be chosen as ERS and NIFA’s new home.”
U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, also applauded the Kansas City area being named as a finalist in the USDA’s search for a new home for the two agencies.
“There’s no better place for ERS and NIFA to relocate than Kansas City,” said Sen. Roberts, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee. “Moving the offices to Kansas City, in the middle of the country, close to stakeholders, should improve customer service and make efficient use of taxpayer dollars.”
Both ERS and NIFA are key research arms of USDA, currently located in the Washington, D.C., area. Secretary Perdue recently launched an effort to relocate the two key research arms of the Department outside of the Washington, D.C., region.
As chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee tasked with oversight of USDA, and an outspoken advocate for developing research infrastructure in Kansas, Sen. Roberts stated he would continue monitoring the site selection process closely.
The Greater Kansas City region joins sites in Indiana and the Research Triangle Region of North Carolina as finalists.