The Department of Agriculture this week announced the signing of a lease for office space in downtown Kansas City, Missouri.
805 Pennsylvania Avenue will be home to the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, and the Economic Research Service.
The lease is part of USDA’s effort to move the two agencies out of the Washington, D.C., area, for alleged cost savings and to put the agencies closer to their customers.
The criticized effort moves roughly 600 jobs to Kansas City, with several job openings as many USDA employees of the two agencies opted to seek employment elsewhere, rather than relocate.
The Kansas City metro, split by the Kansas-Missouri border, has faced an economic border war for years.
While the two states have worked towards a so-called truce regarding economic incentives to lure employers, Kansas City and Port KC, a political subdivision of the State of Missouri, offered $26 million worth of incentives to support the relocation.
Missouri Governor Mike Parson says the USDA location will “benefit both Missouri and Kansas for years to come.”
