(Washington, D.C., March 12, 2019) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced the initial down-select list of 136 Expressions of Interest received from parties in 35 states vying to become the new homes of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service (ERS) and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). USDA is following a rigorous site selection process to identify the new locations with involvement from USDA, ERS, and NIFA leadership.
“The announcement of this middle list shows that we are committed to the important missions of these agencies and transparency in our selection process. USDA will make the best choice for our employees and customers,” Perdue said. “Relocation will help ensure that USDA is the most effective, most efficient, and most customer-focused agency in the federal government, allowing us to be closer to our stakeholders and move our resources closer to our customers.” For this initial down-select, USDA applied a set of guiding principles against the Expressions of Interest locations including USDA travel requirements, labor force statistics, work hours most compatible with all USDA office schedules. Sixty-eight Expressions of Interest remain under consideration.
The complete list of Expressions of Interest still under consideration is below.
State Location Applicant(s) AL Birmingham City of Birmingham; University of Alabama at Birmingham; Auburn University; Tuskegee University; Alabama A&M University; Economic Development Association of Alabama AL Shelby County City of Hoover, Shelby County, 58 INC. – The Nonprofit Economic Coalition of Shelby County, the Birmingham Business Alliance, Alabama Power Company, Harbert Realty Services, and Select Income REIT / RMR Group AR Arkansas Arkansas Economic Development Commission AZ Tempe Arizona Commerce Authority; Arizona State University and the Arizona Department of Agriculture CO Aurora Aurora Economic Development Council CO Denver Cottonwood Management Company CO Denver Forest City Trust CO Denver Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation DE Newark University of Delaware FL Tallahassee Tallahassee-Leon County GA Athens-Clarke County Athens-Clarke County Development Authority and Nichols Land & Investment Company and Georgia Department of Economic Development GA Griffin Spalding County Griffin-Spalding Development Authority, Rooker, UGA and Georgia Department of Economic Development IA Ames City of Ames and Iowa State University IA Ankeny City of Ankeny/ Greater Des Moines Partnership, Cultivation Corridor, and the Iowa Economic Development Authority IA Ankeny DRA Properties IA Des Moines City of Des Moines; Greater Des Moines Partnership IA West Des Moines City of West Des Moines IA Council Bluffs Advance Southwest Iowa Corporation; City of Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie County IL Algonquin Village of Algonquin IL Barrington Village of Barrington; Bourns Inc IL Des Plaines City of Des Plaines IL DuPage County Economic Development Agency for DuPage County, Illinois IL Huntley Village of Huntley IL Kane County Kane County IL Orland Park Orland Park, State of Illinois, Will County, Illinois Intersect and the Will County Center for Economic Development IL Schaumburg Village of Schaumburg IL Warrenville NAI Hiffman IN Multiple Indiana Economic Development Corporation; AgriNovus Indiana, the Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) and Purdue University KS and MO Kansas City HPI Group KS and MO Kansas City 805 Penn KS and MO Greater Kansas City Region The Kansas City Area Development Council LA Baton Rouge The Baton Rouge Area Chamber (BRAC), along with partners Louisiana Economic Development (LED), Baton Rouge Area Foundation (BRAF), Louisiana Department of Agriculture & Forestry (LDAF), Louisiana State University (LSU), and Southern University and & Mechanical College (SUAM) Agricultural MD Montgomery County Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation MD College Park University of Maryland College Park MI East Lansing Michigan State University, State of Michigan, Capital Region International Airport (LAN), Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau, Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP), Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce, Michigan Economic Development Corporation and Michigan Farm Bureau MN Falcon Heights Buhl Investors MN Minneapolis University of Minnesota, Minneapolis Saint Paul Regional Economic Development Partnership (GREATER MSP), and the Minnesota Food and Agriculture Initiative MN Shakopee The Opus Group MO St. Louis A consortium of regional leaders across six counties in Missouri and Illinois; State of Missouri and Missouri’s Departments of Agriculture, Economic Development, and Workforce Development, as well as the Missouri Partnership NC Kannapolis The North Carolina Research Campus; the city of Kannapolis, Cabarrus and Rowan Counties, and the state of North Carolina NC Chapel Hill State Employee Credit Union NC Research Triangle Region Wake County, Durham County and Research Triangle Park NE Lincoln The Nebraska consortium, led by Governor Pete Ricketts and former USDA Secretary Mike Johanns and including the State of Nebraska, University of Nebraska system, City of Lincoln, Nebraska Innovation Campus Development Corporation, Nebraska Department of Economic Development, Nebraska Department of Agriculture, Nebraska Chamber of Commerce, Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, Omaha Chamber of Commerce, and public and private business NE Omaha SPW Partners G and S and CBRE MEGA NY Greater Rochester FLX Food and Beverage Consortium is led by Greater Rochester Enterprise, a not-for-profit economic development organization. Members of the Consortium include Cornell University and the Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; the Cornell Agriculture and Technology Farm; Empire State Development; the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets; the New York State Governor’s Office; Rochester Institute of Technology; Tompkins County Area Development; the University of Rochester; and Wegmans Food Markets Inc.
OH Akron County of Summit OH Geauga County Geauga County Department of Development OH Middlefield Village Village of Middlefield OH Twinsburg City of Twinsburg OH Streetsboro City of Streetsboro OH Portage County Brimfield Township PA Hanover Township Private Citizen SC Columbia State of South Carolina (including; South Carolina Department of Commerce, Clemson University, South Carolina Department of Agriculture, and Richland County’s Economic Development Office) TN Knoxville University of Tennessee, Knoxville/University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture (UTK/UTIA); University of Tennessee, Martin (UTM); Tennessee State University (TSU); and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) TN Memphis Agricenter International TX San Marcos Greater San Marcos Partnership; San Marcos, Hays County and Texas State University TX College Station Texas A&M AgriLife Research TX Dallas HPI Group UT Tooele County Governor’s Office of Economic Development, Tooele County, Tooele City, Utah State University, and the Economic Development Corporation of Utah VA Charlottesville University of Virginia Foundation VA Greene County County of Greene; Central Virginia Partnership in Economic Development; Virginia Economic Development Partnership; Fried Companies, Inc; Jones Lang LaSalle VA Madison County Madison County; The Lester Group VA Caroline County Thompson (Richmond) VA Caroline County Caroline County Department of Economic Development VA Petersburg Virginia State University and the Petersburg metropolitan region VA Richmond The Riverstone Group, LLC VA Roanoke Roanoke Regional Partnership WI Madison City of Madison, the University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Agricultural & Life Sciences (CALS), University of Wisconsin–Madison Office of University Relations, University Research Park, State of Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, and 910 Mayer, LLC Questions regarding the USDA site selection process should be directed to relocation@usda.gov.
# USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender.
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture
