A stronger U.S. Department of Agriculture presence in Fort Collins may see new home construction and will almost certainly increase local economic prospects.
So says a new report just issued by the think tank Common Sense Institute, which is forecasting a possible $1.4 billion local economic impact, depending upon the number of USDA staffers who are ultimately relocated to the northern Colorado City.
The impacts, notes the report, “extend far beyond direct federal employment, stimulating growth across private industries and reinforcing the interconnectedness of private and public sector activity.”
Three months ago, the Trump administration announced that it was relocating some 2,600 agency employees based in Washington to five hubs across the country in order to be closer to farmers and ranchers. Those hubs, besides Fort Collins, include Indianapolis, Indiana; Kansas City, Missouri; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Salt Lake City, Utah.
The staff relocations and expanded USDA presence in the five cities are designed to “better serve the great and patriotic farmers, ranchers, and producers we are mandated to serve,” Brooke Rollings, Department of Agriculture Secretary, said in announcing the staff relocations.
While Fort Collins officials are still not sure exactly how many USDA staffers will end up in the city, DJ Summers, a spokesperson for the Common Sense Institute, said that even if it’s as little as five hundred, the impact will be instantly felt.
That’s 500 new salaries that will be spent on “goods and services in the Colorado economy: home construction and maintenance, grocery stores, and gas stations,” Summers was quoted as saying in the Colorado Sun.
An exact timeline for when the staff move will take place has not yet been announced.
October 7, 2025
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy Department of Agriculture
