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.