West Lafayette, Indiana
October 30, 2007
The 20,000-square-foot Beck
Agricultural Center, which will provide facilities for
educational opportunities for all ages, will be dedicated at
10:30 a.m. Wednesday (Oct. 31) at
Purdue University's agronomy
farm.
The $5.2 million building was financed with a major gift from
the Beck family of Atlanta, Indiana, combined with Purdue
College of Agriculture development funds. The family owns and
operates Beck's Hybrids,
a seed company founded in 1937.
Purdue President France A. Crdova and the Beck family will
formally open the facility with a dedication ceremony in the
building's two-story lobby-reception area. The Beck Center
contains space for classes, meetings, hands-on demonstrations
and research. The building is part of the Purdue Agronomy Center
for Research and Education on U.S. 52, located about seven miles
northwest of the West Lafayette campus.
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The Beck family is recognizing their connection with
Purdue through a gift to make possible the Beck
Agricultural Center. The family includes Glendia Beck
and Shantel Beck (seated from left), and Tracey Beck,
Tony Beck, Sonny Beck, Kim Marschand, Todd Marschand and
Scott Beck (standing from left). Sonny and Glendia's
children Scott, Tony and Kim, like their father, are all
Purdue graduates. (Photo contributed) |
"The Becks have shown their
trademark leadership in helping Purdue create a facility that
will serve Indiana's farming community today and in the future,"
Crdova said. "Agriculture is a major economic driver for our
state, providing students, faculty and farmers with a resource
that combines classrooms, laboratories and opportunities for
hands-on experience will help keep that industry on the cutting
edge."
The building includes four classrooms, a multipurpose room, a
conference room and a food serving area. A work area is set up
for hands-on plant diagnostic demonstrations and research. The
multipurpose room has a large garage door so that agricultural
equipment can be brought into the building for teaching and
demonstrations. Two of the classrooms have laboratory benches
around the outside and tile floors so they can be used for
biological research and teaching. The other two classrooms are
set up as regular teaching areas with desks and carpeting to
muffle noise.
"We wanted to support a facility of value to everyone, no matter
their level of interest in agriculture or whether they're
youngsters or college students, farmers or agriculture industry
people," said Sonny Beck, president of Beck's Hybrids. "It's the
Beck family's way of giving back to the community and Purdue for
all they have done for us. It's also our way of providing for
the future of agriculture and its improvement."
The center's location is a major feature because it's easily
accessible to campus and also is convenient for farmers and
other off-campus visitors who want to participate in various
meetings, classes and research projects, Beck said.
The building is a visible symbol of the 70-year Purdue and Beck
Hybrids partnership, he said, and it will help ensure that
Indiana agriculture has the best, most up-to-date training in
farming methods and plant and pest diagnostics.
The Beck Agricultural Center fills a need for Purdue and the
agronomy farm by providing a building for activities that
formerly were held in tents or garage space on the property,
said Randy Woodson, Purdue's Glenn W. Sample Dean of
Agriculture. Purdue farms attract more than 8,000 people
annually for workshops and training programs, and about 5,000
elementary through high school students and teachers visit for
various classes.
"The Beck family has long been integral to the state's economy
and to Purdue," Woodson said. "Their spearheading of the fund
drive for this new facility allows the university to fulfill the
ever-growing demand from farmers and agriculture businesses for
land-grant universities to provide essential education and
research that can have immediate and long-term impacts."
The Beck family's association with Purdue began when Sonny
Beck's father, Francis, attended agriculture short courses at
the university in 1929 and 1930.
Beck's Hybrids began in 1937 when Francis and his father,
Lawrence Beck, each planted three-acre allotments of seed corn
from the university's botany department. Francis and his wife,
Pauline, remained active in the business until their deaths in
1999 and 2001, respectively.
Francis Beck's business philosophy was to provide a 100 percent
free replant agreement on every bag of Beck's seed corn. His
son, Sonny, and Sonny's children continue that practice on all
of the company's corn, soybean, wheat and alfalfa seed, which is
marketed to farmers in Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, southern
Michigan and western Kentucky.
Sonny Beck earned his bachelor's
degree in agronomy at Purdue in 1962 and his master's in
agricultural economics in 1964. Glendia, his wife and company
secretary, attended Purdue and worked in the Department of
Animal Sciences for several years while Sonny finished his
degrees.
Sonny and Glendia's children Scott, Tony and Kim, are Purdue
graduates and are all part of the company, along with Kim's
husband, Todd Marschand, Scott's wife, Shantel, and Tony's wife,
Tracey.
The dedication is part of a two-week celebration surrounding
Purdue's Homecoming on Oct. 27. The events focus on ways Purdue
is improving education and the quality of life in Indiana.
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