National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility

Georgia has been selected as a finalist candidate for the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF), a new national facility that would address the federal government’s need for research and development space to meet threats from emerging disease pandemics and bio- and agro-terrorism.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced in July 2007 that it had narrowed its list of 18 candidates to five states, including Georgia.

The new national facility will be dedicated to research on foreign animal and zoonotic diseases (those that pass from animals to humans). Researchers will focus on developing tests to detect diseases and countermeasures (vaccines) to prevent diseases.

The bid to attract the NBAF to Georgia was developed by the Georgia Consortium for Health and Agro-Security, a statewide collaboration led by Governor Sonny Perdue. With a constellation of nationally and internationally recognized resources in infectious disease research, vaccine and diagnostic test development and food safety, Georgia is uniquely qualified to protect the nation against infectious agents, whether they are from terrorism or natural causes. The University of Georgia is the consortium’s lead agency.

The Athens site selected is University of Georgia-owned property on South Milledge Avenue near Whitehall Road, on the southern end of campus used as an extended animal farm for the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences. The site is only minutes from the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine, the Animal Health Research Center, USDA facilities, Merial Ltd., and Athens Technical College, as well as the Athens bypass and connecting highway network.

The facility, which would be housed in a 500,000-square-foot building, would create an estimated 250 or more high-paying jobs. Construction of the facility alone would create an estimated 1,500 construction jobs. A Carl Vinson Institute of Government analysis estimates the NBAF’s impact in Georgia at $500 million in wages/salaries, and an estimated $1.5 billion in overall economic output over 20 years.*

Georgia has become a world leader in global health, especially in the areas of zoonotic infectious diseases, vaccines and food safety. A decision by DHS to locate the NBAF in Athens would enhance the facility’s operations and impact due its proximity to existing federal research facilities such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the USDA Russell Research Center, as well as Athens and Atlanta research partners Merial, Emory University, Georgia Tech and Georgia State University.

In the next phase of the selection process, DHS will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the communities offering sites. The public will be able to provide comment on these  facilities, in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). DHS will select the final site in fall 2008.

Site Map

*Revised CVIOG estimate 9/07.