State-of-the-art, sustainable lab facilities in St. Louis will help USDA-FSIS address public health challenges
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 recently celebrated the groundbreaking for the new home of the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service Midwestern Laboratory in Normandy, Missouri.
USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service is the public health regulatory agency within the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) responsible for ensuring that domestic and imported meat, poultry, and egg products are safe, wholesome, and properly labeled.
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. 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.
Dr. J. Emilio Esteban, USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety
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. 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.
GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan
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. 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.
Paul Kiecker, Administrator of the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service
The laboratory 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.