The idea to move two federal research agencies from Washington, D.C., to the Kansas City area is a good one.
But the plan being used by U.S. Department of Agriculture leaders to turn the idea into reality is seriously flawed, raising the risk that the move will be a huge failure.
The Trump administration in June announced it would move the USDA Economic Research Service and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture to new offices in the Kansas City area.
Officials in that city won some sort of competition that also included finalists in Indiana and North Carolina.
No clear accounting exists of what financial incentives were demanded, offered or agreed upon. The Kansas City Business Journal reports that Kansas and Missouri leaders offered at least $26 million in incentives. It is not known where that money is coming from, or if thats a grand total, or whether the federal government must meet any job or economic metrics to get the money.
So the deal is suspect just on the lack of transparency.
Another big minus is timing.
The USDA demanded that its staff members decide within a month whether they will make the move. And they must move no later than Sept. 30, although its not clear where they will be moving to.
The USDA has not announced where in the Kansas City area the offices will be.
For families looking to relocate, that sort of information is vital as they look for new homes, new schools, new daycare and so on. Given the size of the Kansas City area, employees who relocate dont know whether the new home they choose would be within 80 miles of the new USDA offices.
The short deadline also leaves families with a working spouse in a lurch, as well as families who are caring for elderly relatives.
A more reasonable time frame accompanied by solid information for staff should be minimal expectations for any business or government relocation. Instead, this rush job seemed designed to alienate workers.
If that was the plan, it worked marvelously.
The Washington Post reports, 99 of the 171 employees at the Economic Research Service wont move, and at the NIFA, 151 of 224 staff decided not to relocate.
This rushed, poorly planned, questionably financed move likely means that needed research wont get done, because of staff shortages and disruptions associated with the move.
