Federal Jobs available! “Both agencies have been hard at work in the Beacon Center after relocating to the region over a month ago, and signing this lease is an important next step to facilitate their long-term efficiency, effectiveness, and service to our customers. With this new lease in Kansas City, the federal government will realize significant savings which can be attributed to lower lease costs in the Kansas City region and to improved efficiencies resulting in a smaller physical footprint realized through the co-location of the two agencies. By Rebecca Beitsch - 07/15/19 07:19 PM EDT . Of NIFA's 315 jobs, 294 will be relocated, and of the 329 jobs at ERS, 253 will be moved to Kansas City. There is already a significant presence of USDA and federal government employees in the region, including the Kansas City ‘Ag Bank’ Federal Reserve.An official website of the United States governmentUSDA worked with GSA to secure a permanent lease space through a competitive process in the Kansas City region. Administration officials deny that, calling it a cost-saving move intended to have researchers closer to farmers.The USDA said it was working to make the move as smooth as possible but did not respond to several specific questions about the move from The Hill.“These highly motivated civil servants feel as if their expertise and dedication to the agency and the public has been undermined and dismissed by the department,” Dean added.Estimates tallied by employees show 70 percent of ERS employees designated for the Kansas City office will not be moving. “Our stakeholders are primarily Congress and program leads and agencies and nonprofits in D.C. or people that come to meet with multiple entities in D.C."But the numbers of staff refusing to move may grow. USDA is relocating the Economic Research Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture to the Kansas City Region.
And we’ve seen many times that this administration doesn’t like facts or research that isn’t convenient or [is] an impediment to their agenda, so I think moving them away helps accomplish that,” she added.National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) employees work with universities to fund research and coordinate the process that issues research grants on agriculture-related subjects, including climate change adaptation.Employees say they are getting conflicting information about how much of their moving costs will be covered by the government. “My colleagues are deeply committed to the mission of the agency and see their positions as an opportunity to both shape the future of their scientific disciplines and to serve the American people.A Trump administration decision to move researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to the Kansas City area is threatening to spark the flight of more than half of the staff selected to move, gutting the agency of its top scientific voices. For NIFA, 45 percent of those surveyed said they will not move. Since that time, both agencies have been housed in space currently utilized by USDA and will remain in that space until the build-out of the permanent office is completed.