Justin Cook, the MSU innovation Campus executive director, said Bozeman’s connection to good schools, outdoor adventure and a growing airport makes the city a contender.

“We’re a land-grant university, a good place to live and with the valley’s history of agriculture, Bozeman makes sense,” Cook said. “It also feeds into the mission of the campus.”

MSU Alumni Foundation, a separate nonprofit fundraising arm of the university, owns the tech park and has until Oct. 15 to deliver a letter of interest to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The proposal, still in draft mode, touts the university as a pipeline to more than 16,000 students and world-class faculty in agriculture and technical disciplines.

MSU leaders have had plans since the 1980s to create a high-tech incubator in Bozeman. For the 42-acre tech park working toward development, becoming the federal research headquarters is a chance to further legitimize that effort.

Cook said construction on the campus’ first building — a major research lab — should begin this fall and wrap up in 2019. The lab will be accredited for security by the U.S. Department of Defense, making it the first of its kind in Montana. Cook said that will give student researchers a leg up and private companies a chance they otherwise couldn’t afford.

Other than that lab, much of the park’s future is uncertain as it remains empty fields.

The National Institute for Food and Agriculture needs a roughly 90,000-square-foot facility to house 360 employees while the second office needs roughly 70,000 square feet for 260 employees.

In his announcement, Perdue said transferring the employees to a new location could save money, improve staff quality of life and put the offices closer to those who benefit from the work.

Leading agriculture scientists and economists have called the move a step to slash funding and support for projects on nutrition and climate change, among other concerns. They point to the Trump administration’s 2019 budget proposal, which targets the Economic Research Service for steep cuts.

On Monday, Bozeman city commissioners threw their support behind the campus’ goal. That came in the form of a letter by Mayor Cyndy Andrus, which the commission approved during its regular meeting.

Bozeman Deputy Mayor Chris Mehl said Tuesday the city’s infrastructure and offerings make it a good spot for the headquarters. He said the offices’ world-renowned experts in rural economic development and agriculture issues would benefit Montana. But he called Bozeman’s chance bittersweet.

Mehl also works as the policy director for the research group Headwaters Economic. He said the nonprofit often uses what comes from the Economic Research Service and said the federal changes look like an effort for attrition as senior researchers may not make the move.

“If the [headquarters] have to move, then by all means I hope they move here,” Mehl said. “But it would be a shame to see that research cut nationally at a time when rural communities need that.”

Cook said it’s hard to know what chance Bozeman has.

“It’s a long shot in any kind of government relocation,” Cook said. “It will be competitive, and we’ll see how competitive I think in this next stage.”