Kissell confident USDA center will survive

Larry Kissell

By Emily Ford

eford@salisburypost.com

KANNAPOLIS — President Obama's proposed budget does not include more money for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's new nutrition center in Kannapolis.

But U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell (D-NC), who helped secure a $1 million earmark last year to launch the center at the N.C. Research Campus, said he's confident that he can find additional funding for the project.

"While I was disappointed it wasn't in the budget, I wasn't surprised," said Kissell, who was in Kannapolis Tuesday speaking to Japanese scientists touring the Research Campus.

Although the Kannapolis center doesn't appear in Obama's proposed fiscal 2011 budget, up to three USDA researchers will join the Research Campus this spring, marking the first federal presence at the $1.5 billion life sciences complex.

The USDA will establish a Human Nutrition Research Center in Kannapolis, the first of its kind in the Southeast.

USDA researchers will work alongside scientists from N.C. State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Both schools have state-of-the-art labs in Kannapolis.

The USDA official who will oversee the project said the federal budget process has just begun.

"We've got 10 months of theater to go through to see what really ends up in the budget," said Dr. David Klurfeld, national program leader for USDA's in-house research arm, Agricultural Research Services.

It's typical for an earmark to be removed, Klurfeld said.

"All earmarks in the budget, not just Kannapolis, are treated in this fashion," he said.

Klurfeld said he's looking for scientists to work in Kannapolis.

"We are moving forward with a plan that is not just one year but long-term," he said.

Klurfeld visited Kannapolis recently and met with Dr. Mary Ann Lila of N.C. State and Dr. Steven Zeisel of UNC-Chapel Hill to finalize plans for collaboration.

"I was very impressed," he said. "The buildings were like palaces. The only negative was there weren't a lot of people in the buildings, but the people they have there are top quality."

The UNC system, which has 102 employees and seven universities studying nutrition and agriculture in Kannapolis, has bumped up funding to the campus to recruit more faculty.

The USDA's future in Kannapolis depends on the ability of North Carolina's congressional delegation to secure funding, Klurfeld said.

"Certainly, if Congress cuts off funds, it will be a very short project," he said. "We work for the president. I can't promise there will be years two and three."

Kissell said the USDA center in Kannapolis, which will study nutrients in fruits and vegetables, is too important to lose. He said he will work with senators Kay Hagan and Richard Burr to come up with the money.

"I'm confident," he said. "We'll just go to work."

Klurfeld said he assumes that advocates will find funding.

"Those of us who have experience in this realize that most earmarks are restored by Congress," he said.