The state of Kansas has entered competition with 10 other states to be the site for a $451 million biodefense research facility, carrying the official name of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF).

Building this 500,000-square-foot facility will create up to 1,500 construction jobs and 500 high-paying research positions. It will generate an estimated economic impact of $3.5 billion in its first 20 years. It would become a magnet for private biotechnology companies, professionals and support infrastructure. It will result in collaborative opportunities for universities and research institutions, and it will help attract more top-flight researchers to the area.

This facility would be replacing the aging Plum Island facility in New York and, indeed, it would be a true “plum” for Kansas to land.

The competition is intense with the 10 other states sure to present strong, well-documented proposals. There will be many similarities among all bids, with each state offering what it considers to be “ideal” sites and handsome financial incentives.

Kansas Bioscience Authority officers have been leading the effort to make the Kansas bid strong and attractive. Details of the Kansas proposal are considered confidential, but those close to the action, and those with Kansas State University, Manhattan and Leavenworth interests all say the Kansas bid is superb. A special team was assembled to prepare this entry and one individual with vast Washington, D.C., and federal experience said it measured up to be the best he had ever seen in presenting an attractive, sound, well-documented proposal for a federal program.

What are the chances of Kansas making it into the finals? Who knows, but, trying to cast aside wishful thinking and home-state pride, those trying to be objective in their thinking say Kansas has a good chance.

Aside from the physical site, cash incentives, the public attitude toward the facility and many other considerations, it must be realized that at the end of studies and deliberations by Department of Homeland Security officials, politics will enter the picture.

How Kansas stacks up in this category is anyone’s guess. Kansas has two Republican senators, two Democrat and two Republican House members, and a Democrat governor with further political ambitions.

However, whether Kansas makes it into the semifinals and/or makes it into the finals and is not selected as the eventual winner, Kansas is a winner in many other aspects.

This exercise has shown that Kansas can compete with the “big boys.” It has nothing to be ashamed of. When presented an opportunity, the entire state rallied behind the project. Kansas legislators, Republicans and Democrats, banded together and were quick in putting together legislation that was approved in almost record time.

There was great cooperation between Kansas State University officials and Manhattan and Leavenworth leaders in putting together a proposal for two sites that, while competing, remain supportive of each other.

Also, the state is fortunate to have the leadership, vision and resources of the nonpartisan Kansas Bioscience Authority, which organized the Kansas effort and worked on every detail of the proposal.

This effort, win or lose, shows Kansas can compete and that there should be no hesitancy or shyness by Kansans or state officials in going after attractive, major projects that would be good for the state. Hopefully the NBAF exercise marks a new chapter in Kansas’ efforts to seek out research, educational and commercial projects that, in the past, would have prompted some in the state to have said, “We don’t have a chance.”

Kansas does have a chance and, based on how quickly and effectively the state rallied behind NBAF, there should be no hesitation to enter the big time in competition for true “plums” for the Sunflower state.