Kansas City, Mo. ? It’s not expected to open for at least six years, but the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility is already sparking interest from researchers and companies hoping to forge connections with the federal laboratory.

No definitive agreements have been signed, but expressions of interest and inquiries have increased since January, when the Department of Homeland Security picked Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan., as the site for the $650 million laboratory that will study livestock diseases.

That decision also has intensified inquiries from national and international groups about the Animal Health Corridor, which encompasses more than 120 animal health-related organizations between Manhattan and Columbia, Mo.

“The interest has been quite high,” said Tom Thornton, president and CEO of the Kansas Bioscience Authority. “Right now, we have people coming to Kansas to kind of kick the tires, discussing possible research partnerships or looking at the land.”

The first definitive step in realizing the economic benefits of the biothreat lab occurs today, when Homeland Security holds a meeting at Kansas State for construction companies interested in submitting proposals to build the laboratory complex.

Construction of the lab is expected to inject $523 million into the Kansas economy and create more than 1,500 jobs. It’s scheduled to begin in 2010, with the lab opening in 2015.

When the lab complex opens, it will employ about 350 researchers and 150 support personnel. Thornton said the 20-year impact of the lab is estimated at $3.65 billion. And that does not include any potential commercialization of products that might develop from the research, he said.

Some researchers are expected to arrive in Manhattan as early as this fall to work in the already existing Biosecurity Research Institute on the Kansas State campus.

Thornton’s group is working on 10 active inquiries related to national biothreat lab. He declined to name any of the interested parties but said they include both research and commercial firms. A year ago, he said, the bioscience authority was tracking only two companies.