North Carolina’s New Agricultural Sciences Center Will Change Agribusiness for the Better
In partnership with: North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services
In 2016, $94 million in funding provided by the Connect NC bonds was set aside for the development of a state-of-the-art laboratory complex that would position the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to better serve the state’s farmers, agribusinesses and consumers for the near future and beyond. The 225,000-square-foot Agricultural Sciences Center spans three stories and will open in the spring in Raleigh. The Ag Sciences Center will contain offices and labs that perform tests for four of the department’s divisions: Food and Drug Protection, Standards, Structural Pest Control and Pesticides, and Veterinary.
North Carolina Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler notes that there has been a multi-division working group involved in planning this project over the last four years. Together, the group assessed the business processes in each of the labs and came up with a plan that benefits all four department divisions that are involved.
“Our goal is to meet the current needs of consumers and to anticipate into the design a way to increase capacity and incorporate new technologies,” he says. “We want this building to serve our state for decades to come.”
The Agricultural Sciences Center replaces five separate lab facilities in Raleigh that serve every consumer, farmer and agribusiness in the state in some capacity. The previous lab facilities had an average age of 40 years and were ill-equipped to keep up with changes in science and technology over the decades.
See more: North Carolina’s Top 10 Agricultural Commodities
“The designs of our older buildings didn’t allow us to take advantage of some of the most complicated and scientific material available for science work,” says Joe Reardon, assistant commissioner for consumer protection at North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. “We needed a more stable environment, we needed cleaner air and we needed to better control the temperature and humidity within some tight parameters.”
“The industry will continue to grow, and this building will serve as an asset for our farmers, agribusinesses and citizens that will benefit daily from its services.”
– N.C. Ag Commissioner Steve Troxler
Overall, 225 employees will be moving into the new facility and 1,600 pieces of analytical equipment will be transferred over by the end of April – a very exciting transition for the hardworking professionals who are eager to take full advantage of all the Agricultural Sciences Center has to offer.
“We believe that this facility will allow these divisions to utilize the most advanced technology to ensure that the products that are being tested and analyzed are safe for the citizens of North Carolina,” Reardon says.
Agriculture is North Carolina’s top industry with an annual economic impact of $92.7 billion and $10.6 billion value of production. Therefore, investing in the segment was a savvy decision.
“The industry will continue to grow, and this building will serve as an asset for our farmers, agribusinesses and citizens that will benefit daily from its services,” Commissioner Troxler says. “If you eat, drive a car, own livestock, have a pet, use pesticides or buy pharmaceuticals, then you benefit from this lab. We needed a better way to serve. I consider this lab to be a long-term investment in the future of agriculture.”