Despite concern from lawmakers, the Agriculture Department is moving ahead with its plans to relocate two of its research agencies outside the Washington, D.C., area and has narrowed in on the Kansas City region as its choice.
USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue announced June 13 the move of the Economic Research Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture to Kansas and said the area “provides a win win – maximizing our mission function by putting taxpayer savings into programmatic outputs and providing affordability, easy commutes, and extraordinary living for our employees.”
Kansas City was chosen after USDA conducted a selection process that considered criteria such as quality of life, costs, workforce, logistics and IT infrastructure.
Perdue said these relocations aim to improve long-term sustainability and success of the two agencies, and the savings will allow USDA to better retain employees long-term.