Raleigh to gain USDA hub after agency reorganization

A major reorganization of the U.S. Department of Agriculture will bring a new regional hub of the agency to Raleigh.

North Carolina’s capital is one of five U.S. cities that will gain hubs as the USDA downsizes and shifts staff from its Washington, D.C., offices. The other hubs will be in Kansas City, Indianapolis, Fort Collins, Colorado, and Salt Lake City.

The reorganization, to be phased in over the coming months, is intended to shift agency operations to areas with lower costs of living for its employees than the nation’s capital, which has one of the highest costs of living in the country, according to an announcement by USDA.

The Washington region has about 4,600 agency employees, and after the reorganization, it will have no more than 2,000, the agency said. It is not yet known how many employees will be relocated to the five regional hubs.

“Over the next month, and where applicable, USDA senior leadership will notify offices with more information on relocation to one of the regional hubs,” the agency said.

The reorganization, announced by Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins, consists of four pillars:

• Ensure the size of USDA’s workforce aligns with available financial resources and agricultural priorities
• Bring USDA closer to its customers
• Eliminate management layers and bureaucracy
• Consolidate redundant support functions

Over the last four years, USDA’s workforce grew by 8%, and employees’ salaries increased by 14.5% - “including hiring thousands of employees with no sustainable way to pay them,” the agency said. “This all occurred without any tangible increase in service to USDA’s core constituencies across the agricultural sector.”

A government review indicated the agency’s operations in greater Washington are “underutilized and redundant, plagued by rampant overspending and decades of mismanagement and costly deferred maintenance,” and the agency itself is “a bloated, expensive, and unsustainable organization,” according to the USDA statement.
The reorganization will reduce the agency’s workforce in tandem with voluntary staff retirements.

Almost 100,000 people work at the USDA’s 29 agencies at 4,500 offices across the United States and in other countries. Raleigh already has several offices, including a presence at N.C. State University and multiple agency offices on Bland Road.

The USDA was established in 1862 by President Lincoln, who called it “the People’s Department.” Its mission is to support American food, agriculture, natural resources, rural development and nutrition.