News that the agricultural headquarters of the proposed DowDuPont would be in DuPont’s hometown of Wilmington, Del.— and not Johnston, Iowa — undoubtedly set off a bunch of water cooler chats around Greater Des Moines.

State and local officials came up with a $17.2 million aid package to encourage DuPont to keep its biotechnology campus in Johnston. The company promised to keep as many as 500 high-quality jobs, along with investing $500,000 in capital improvements and $500 million in research and development over seven years. The deal depends on final approval of the merger of DuPont and Dow Chemical Co., and the job numbers will be updated after the new ag company forms following the merger. DowDuPont plans to split into three companies.

I called a few people and stopped by to chat with several others to see how everyone was feeling. It was a mixed bag of a day. On the one hand, Iowa lost out on landing the headquarters for the agricultural operations even after the personal appeals of key state officials and the congressional delegation and undisclosed offers of assistance. On the other hand, DuPont continued to keep its seed corn and biotechnology center — a key player in the community and in the Cultivation Corridor — in Johnston.

Most people we contacted were in a glass-half-full mood. Few were surprised that DowDuPont would focus the ag operations on Wilmington while doing global research in Johnston, home of DuPont Pioneer, and in Indianapolis, which is home to Dow’s ag operations. But there was some disappointment. In general, the hope of future growth in Johnston seemed to outweigh concerns.

Here’s what we heard from a few key sources.

Steven Zumbach, Des Moines lawyer and a leader in the Cultivation Corridor efforts:
“We recognize that the CEOs and managers are important, but the soul of a company is the geniuses that create the knowledge.They are the scientists at DuPont Pioneer. I think in five or 10 years, we’ll see more jobs at Johnston. The important thing is that the global research center is in Des Moines. The dollars will be invested. The geniuses that do the research will be in Des Moines. It takes advantage of the relationship between (Iowa State University) and the company. It is a very symbiotic relationship. If we didn’t have a premier land grant university with expertise in plant genetics, the (DuPont Pioneer) campus would have been at risk.”

Neil Hamilton, Dwight D. Opperman Chair of Law and director of Agricultural Law Center, Drake University:
“It diminishes Des Moines and Iowa’s role as an ag technology center. It’s hard to describe it as good news. Whether it does damage to Des Moines’ reputation or not depends on the details to follow. It may indicate in the great scheme the ag components weren’t as significant as other parts of the arrangement. It will be interesting to see what remains. Pioneer has some amazingly complex facilities that they have built out there. You assume they will be utilized to a significant extent. It seems peculiar that neither of the cities that had the major ag operations (Johnston and Indianapolis) are going to be headquarters of the new combined ag operations. They are either going to have to move a lot of people to Wilmington to have the ag experience, or shop it all out to Des Moines and Indianapolis. From a corporate efficiency standpoint, it seems a little odd.”

Steven Leath, Iowa State University President:
“It is not surprising that DowDuPont’s headquarters will be in Wilmington, where it has had a presence for more than 200 years. However, we are very pleased that Johnston will be home to one of the company’s two global business centers and operations there will be an important part of the Cultivation Corridor. We are fully optimistic that the size and scope of the center’s influence will grow over time and remain an Iowa asset.”

Paula Dierenfeld, Johnston Mayor:
“While the decision by Dow-DuPont was not everything we had hoped, we are very pleased the global research hub will remain in Johnston. The recent investments in research facilities and the high quality workforce we have in our community obviously went a long ways in convincing DowDupont’s leadership that Johnston is the right place to focus their research activities. The company’s decision continues to position us well for future economic growth in Johnston.”

Jay Byers, CEO, Greater Des Moines Partnership:
“This is very positive news for Central Iowa. DowDuPont has made a long term commitment to have a strong global presence here in Central Iowa. In many ways, this announcement is about an ongoing commitment that DuPont Pioneer has had to this area for a long time. We will continue to have the seed and biotechnology center here, and, as in past, the headquarters will be in Wilmington. They made a long term commitment to research and development in the future. Today’s announcement is very exciting in terms of a much larger, global company maintaining that long-term commitment to Johnston being a global center for seed and biotechnology. I believe the company has committed to $500 million in future (research and development). That sends a very powerful statement. We think the prospect for future job growth is good. If you look at the history of the company since DuPont and Pioneer merged, the corporate headquarters has been in Wilmington. Today’s announcement is basically a continuation of that situation.”

Gov. Terry Branstad:
“We are proud that DowDuPont’s leadership has selected Iowa as its Global Business Center for its newly formed agriculture company. For the past few months, we’ve been in contact with officials at Dow and DuPont and have had the pleasure of showing them what Iowa has to offer, a world-class biosciences company. I am glad to say they agreed. We are anxious to help DowDuPont experience success in Iowa, by providing a foundation to build on and a business climate that nurtures growth.”

Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds:
“Iowa has a long history with Pioneer and its predecessor organizations. We are excited to continue that relationship well into the future with DowDuPont. Today’s announcement is a reason to celebrate — keeping the research and development and business operations in Iowa solidifies DowDuPont in our state and positions us well to compete for future growth opportunities.”