By Andy Marso 
THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL
The Kansas Department of Agriculture is
exploring moving its headquarters to Manhattan or southwest Kansas next year.
The Department of Administration, which
handles leasing and facilities management for state agencies, has listed online
three bid solicitations for office space for the Department of Agriculture. The
solicitations, which have the same specifications and are dated June 14,
request bids from Topeka, Manhattan and "Great Bend, Garden City and/or
Dodge City."
Max Foster is the Department of Agriculture
official listed on the solicitations as the contact person for tours of the
department's current office space in the Mills Building at 109 S.W. 9th. Foster
said Monday that the department's lease is up September 30, 2013, which is why
the bid solicitations list the "desired occupancy" date as "on
or before" Oct. 1, 2013.
Dale Rodman, Kansas secretary of agriculture,
said through a spokeswoman that the department has been working for the past
six months to "identify potential options to meet all needs for the
department."
"As KDA receives more information about
all possibilities, we will begin reviewing all available options while focusing
on the core responsibilities of the department and providing those in the most
efficient and effective manner possible," Rodman said.
The bid solicitations state that in order to
be considered, the leased spaces must accommodate 20 to 180 workers. The
Department of Administration's online directory currently lists 172 Department
of Agriculture employees in Topeka.
Doug Kinsinger, president and CEO of the
Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce, said it was the first he had heard of the
department possibly moving.
"Our position has always been that the
capital is the most suitable place for the departments and especially their
head offices," Kinsinger said. "We've had many dialogues with Gov.
Brownback and his administration about that."
Brownback's office didn’t respond to an
emailed request for comment by close of business Monday.
Kinsinger said Topeka "sees a
substantial economic impact" from hosting state agencies as the capital
city.
"This economic impact ranges from the
direct purchases the agency and departments make of supplies and services from
a wide variety of vendors to the indirect economic impact of the agency's
employees, their families and their purchases," Kinsinger said.
As the director of the Department of
Administration's Office of Facilities and Property Management, Mark McGivern is
the state official in charge of leasing office space to state agencies.
McGivern said his office tries to keep its
finger on the pulse of what current rental rates are across the state "in
places where we have a preference."
"The process that we would undertake,
generically, is wherever the agency is interested in relocating to. Typically
there's chambers of commerce or real estate committees and you can get market
info for that particular market if you just know the right person to talk
to," McGivern said.
Kinsinger said keeping the Department of
Agriculture in Topeka makes sense, given the presence of related organizations
like the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Kansas Grain and Soybean
Association, Kansas Feed and Seed, the Kansas Soybean Association, the Kansas
Co-op Association and the Kansas Livestock Association.
"Having the vast majority of
agricultural-related organizations in the capital of Kansas allows
communication and cooperation to be efficient and productive," Kinsinger
said. "In addition, there is also the key benefit and value of being close
to the Legislature and the governor's administration."
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