Source: United States General Services Administration
May 24, 2023
Contact:
Press@gsa.gov or FSISPress@usda.gov
NORMANDY, Missouri — USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. J. Emilio Esteban, GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service Administrator Paul Kiecker, and City of Normandy Mayor Mark Beckmann today celebrated the groundbreaking for the new home of the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service Midwestern Laboratory in Normandy, Missouri.
The state-of-the-art facility will both incorporate and support science and technology to address present and future public health challenges. This facility will also support a deeper commitment to sustainability to help minimize environmental impact from construction to operation while ensuring efficiencies that save taxpayer dollars.
Consistent with GSA’s mission to acquire space on behalf of other government agencies, GSA signed a lease with US Federal Properties for a term of 20 years and a total contract value of $115,540,000. US Federal Properties has hired McCarthy Building Companies based in Des Peres, Missouri, to serve as the General Contractor.
“Our labs are crucial to the work we do in protecting the U.S. food supply and exports touching every corner of the world,” said Dr. J. Emilio Esteban, USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety. “This new facility will allow the FSIS Midwestern Lab to incorporate advancements in science and technology to meet present and future challenges in food safety and public health.”
“At GSA, we want all federal spaces to empower employees to do their best work, bolster the missions of agencies like USDA, and support the local community,” said GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan. “This partnership with USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service and the community of Normandy is going to help ensure that federal employees have a safe, state-of-the-art, and sustainable facility where they can continue to provide great service to the American people.”
“This is the first FSIS laboratory construction in recent years where we have been able to participate in the top-to-bottom design process to specifically meet our needs,” said Paul Kiecker, Administrator of the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. “This new facility will advance FSIS’ operational excellence, increase our overall efficiency because of our close proximity to a major airport, and enable us to recruit the next generation of talented employees from St. Louis colleges and universities.”
The building is currently under design. Construction site preparation work will start this summer with site and civil work completed in the fall and building construction in 2024 and 2025.
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About GSA: GSA provides centralized procurement and shared services for the federal government, managing a nationwide real estate portfolio of nearly 370 million rentable square feet, overseeing approximately $75 billion in annual contracts, and delivering technology services that serve millions of people across dozens of federal agencies. GSA’s mission is to deliver the best customer experience and value in real estate, acquisition, and technology services to the government and the American people.
About USDA – FSIS: The Food Safety and Inspection Service is the public health regulatory agency within the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) responsible for ensuring that domestic and imported meat, poultry, and egg products are safe, wholesome, and properly labeled.