Goppert Foundation provides gift to support Northwest’s Ag Learning Center

Corey Strider (center), senior executive vice president and director for the Goppert Financial Bank, recently presented a check to Jennifer Dawson Nicholson (left), vice president of the Northwest Foundation, and Rod Barr (right), director of Northwest's School of Agricultural Sciences. Photo courtesy Northwest Missouri State University. — Corey Strider (center), senior executive vice president and director for the Goppert Financial Bank, recently presented a check to Jennifer Dawson Nicholson (left), vice president of the Northwest Foundation, and Rod Barr (right), director of Northwest’s School of Agricultural Sciences. Photo courtesy Northwest Missouri State University.

MARYVILLE, Mo. – The Goppert Foundation of Kansas City has added its support to Northwest Missouri State University’s School of Agricultural Sciences and a planned Agricultural Learning Center at the University’s R.T. Wright Farm.

The Goppert Foundation recently gave $250,000 to the Northwest Foundation in support of the Agricultural Learning Center. The Goppert Foundation’s gift is an addition to $50,000 it gave to the initiative in 2016.

“The support our School of Agricultural Sciences has received from the Goppert Foundation is greatly appreciated,” Rod Barr, the director of the School of Agricultural Sciences, said. “It shows the commitment the Goppert Foundation has for promoting student success at Northwest Missouri State University and making a positive impact in the northwest Missouri region.”

The Agricultural Learning Center, for which the University and Northwest Foundation are raising funds, will be built at Northwest’s 448-acre Wright Farm and serve as a multipurpose facility, providing laboratory resources and research to supplement and enhance the academic curriculum. The estimated $8.5 million, 29,000-square-foot center also will allow for greater use of farm crop, soil and livestock resources for research and scholarly activities as well as space for processing agricultural products.

It will include space for public and private functions such as producer and agricultural industry meetings, workshops, shows and career development events, and the promotion of agricultural literacy.

Plans for the Agricultural Learning Center are unfolding as Northwest’s School of Agricultural Sciences is experiencing rapid growth. Nearly 700 students – or more than 12 percent of the University’s undergraduate population – are enrolled in its programs. The School also provides students opportunities to gain profession-based experience at the Wright Farm, which is home to beef, swine, dairy and sheep enterprises, as well as row and forage crops.

The Goppert Foundation, a charitable foundation, was established in 1959 by C.H. Goppert of Kansas City, Missouri. It supports health care facilities, colleges throughout western Missouri and eastern Kansas through scholarship endowments and community building projects. It also assists many area 501(c)(3) organizations that serve underprivileged individuals and families.

To make a gift in support of the Agricultural Learning Center or the School of Agricultural Sciences, or for more information about the Northwest Foundation, contact the Office of University Advancement at (660) 562-1248 or [email protected].