The USDA has a permanent home for two research agencies, four months after announcing they would move to “the Kansas City region” and weeks after employees began reporting to work at temporary quarters. The new location, 805 Pennsylvania Avenue in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, will be subsidized by up to $26 million in incentives from local governments, according to published reports.
About 550 jobs with the Economic Research Service and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture will shift to Kansas City from Washington under a plan announced by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue in August 2018. After naming a handful of finalist locations in May, Perdue announced the winner in mid-June. A permanent location will “provide clarity on commute times and work-life balance for our employees,” he said in announcing that the USDA had signed a lease for space in the downtown building.
“The region is not only a hub for agriculture in America’s heartland, but is also already proving to be a diverse talent pool in proximity to many land-grant and research universities. I’m confident Kansas City will continue to be a great home for the future of ERS and NIFA,” said Perdue.
The Kanas City Business Journal and the Kansas City Star said local authorities had provided incentives to the USDA. The Port Authority of Kansas City designated the location as an “advanced industrial manufacturing zone,” said the Business Journal, which would allow the Port Authority to tap state income taxes to reimburse the agency for bringing jobs to the area. The Star said the Port Authority would provide nearly $20 million in incentives over 15 years to the USDA’s landlord. In addition, the City Council was to vote on redirecting $6 million in local taxes in support of the USDA relocation.
As of mid-October, 125 USDA employees were at work in Kansas City or had agreed to move, said the Star. Some 26 people have been hired to work in Kansas City, and the USDA is seeking 100 more.
Perdue said the relocations would save money on salaries and rent, make it easier to recruit staffers from college towns, and put the agencies closer to “stakeholders.” Foes saw it as part of Trump administration attempts to reduce funding and the portfolio of the ERS.