San Marcos Among 67 Cities Under Consideration For USDA, NIFA Relocations

Staff Reports

*This article has been updated to include a correction; the Greater San Marcos Partnership, GSMP, was misidentified as San Marcos Greater Partnership. We regret our error and any confusion it may have caused.*

San Marcos has made the middle list as the potential new homes of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced Tuesday, March 12, the initial down-select list of 136 Expressions of Interest received from parties in 35 states for the new homes of the USDA and NIFA.

Three Texas cities are among the 67 Expression of Interests still under consideration.

According to the USDA, the department applied a set of guiding principles against the Expressions of Interest locations including USDA travel requirements, labor force statistics and work hours most compatible with all USDA office schedules for the initial down-select.

“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.” 

USDA is following a rigorous site selection process to identify the new locations with involvement from USDA, ERS, and NIFA leadership. 

The three Texas cities under consideration still are Dallas, College Station and San Marcos. The application for San Marcos’ consideration was submitted by the Greater San Marcos Partnership, Texas State University, San Marcos and Hays County.

“We’re extremely excited to have made it through to the next round of selection for the USDA’s site search on their two-division headquarters,” said Adriana Cruz, President of GSMP. “We think that San Marcos and Hays County is the perfect spot for these facilities bridging urban and rural environments and in the heart of not only one of the largest agriculture producing states in the country but in the heart of the innovation corridor. And we look forward to continuing to work with them through their site selection process.”

The USDA will continue to review the expressions of interest under consideration until the right location is decided. There is no projection of when the process will be completed.

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 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

 

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