Like the Apple campus, this doesn’t look like a DTR project. But could have significant impact to Raleigh.
The Site Criteria is interesting to consider when you compare RTP to the two condenders:
West Lafayette, Indiana (Purdue Univ.) and
Kansas City, MO.
Criteria:
Quality of Life: Advantage to RTP. 2.5 hours to the beach, better climate.
Costs: I think the sites are fairly on par. Probably a draw.
Workforce: Slight advantage to RTP and KC with their larger populations to the Purdue area.
Logistics: You could argue the other two sites are more centrally located, but RTP is closer to the big east cities (and DC). So this one is subjective.
Well, we will see, eh? They will be moving hundreds of employees from DC. Just a 5 hour drive south. If they select RTP, I-885 will be ready to connect I-85 from Durham into Hwy 147 / I-40.
The selection process is to be finished by end of the year…
I was pulling for Kannapolis but I’d take RTP. Nice to see a list of finalists without Austin and Nashville on it for once. Honestly I could take a loss to Lafayette or KCMO but another victory for the Millennial Lifestyle Borg of Austin/Nashville would be too much to bear.
I used to work for USDA and one of the agencies I worked for relocated some regional operations to Raleigh about four years ago.
I’d say some advantages for this region are the presence of other USDA agencies with regional offices and NC State being a big ag school (NIFA provides many grants for research).
The other two locations have some of these things, too (KC has some agency-wide consolidated operations). Their advantage could be cost of living/locality pay.
I had heard about this potential move for part of the USDA last year. At the time I thought that Raleigh would be a great fit. The potential move has been pretty controversial with a lot of people pushing back against any move.
If the move happens I’m glad to see that we are a finalist. Hope we can close the deal unlike the high profile projects last year.
NC State is also set to build their plant sciences building on Centennial Campus later this year, so our state is definitely still serious about supporting agtech. I wonder if the USDA will see this as a potential pipeline for employees (or at least, another plus for the Triangle)?
You forget the political aspect of this decision. Look where that moron VP Pence is from. Indiana has a better chance of voting for the Orange-haired bafoon again than NC does…
While Raleigh & RTP are probably a much better ‘business decision’, this decision won’t come down to that unfortunately. Raleigh has 3 major world-recognized research institutions. West lafayette, Indiana, has a solid university… BUT, it’s 3 to 1…unfortunately the orange pumpkin in DC needs the midwest to vote for him again. NC is much less likely.
I think in the current political climate, the location that allows them to pay federal employees the lowest possible salaries will win. Unfortunately in this case, that’s probably not RTP.
I don’t want to be pessimistic, but I’ve seen things from the inside.
St. Louis is a major hub for agtech and agriculture in general. Raleigh would be the clear Quality of Life winner and is most similar to DC. Indiana doesn’t make any sense. Soooo, my bet is on Indiana.
There are rumors they will announce in the next few days. This seems like a bad idea that they are moving the divisions, but if they are moving them I hope we get them. I do wonder if another administration might move them back…
You are spot on…but in the era of trumplandia, does anything make much sense? Mike Pence just happens to hail from the great state of cornfields and basketball players dressed like candy canes…so that’s where my money will also be placed.
I’d be pissed too if my job was going to be relocated and I was forced to move. I’d be pissed whether I was a DMV employee in Raleigh or a USDA employee in DC.