$500,000 gift will support proposed Agriculture Annex at MCC-Maple Woods

March 06, 2023 | Tim Engle

Architect's rendering of proposed Agriculture Annex at MCC-Maple Woods
An architect's rendering of the Agriculture Annex at MCC-Maple Woods (courtesy GastingerWalker&)

The Metropolitan Community College Foundation is pleased to announce a $500,000 joint gift from Kemper Family Foundations, UMB Bank n.a., trustee, and Kearney Wornall Foundation, UMB Bank n.a., trustee. The gift, which was accepted by the MCC Board of Trustees, is earmarked for construction of the MCC Agriculture Annex on the MCC-Maple Woods campus in Kansas City’s Northland.

The gift was announced as MCC’s capital campaign, known as The Path Forward, seeks to build state-of-the-art learning environments for in-demand career training programs. The proposed $6 million, 12,000-square-foot Agriculture Annex building would house programs for students pursuing an MCC associate in applied science (A.A.S.) in agriculture degree. It would be located between the Computing/Business and Math/Science buildings at Maple Woods.

Recently added academic pathways in agribusiness, animal science and plant science represent an expansion of MCC’s veterinary technology program, which is based at Maple Woods. (The popular and highly regarded MCC vet tech program will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year.) The new agriculture facility would contain not just classrooms and lab space but also a 2,000-square-foot greenhouse.

“We are so grateful for the generous support of the Kemper Family Foundations and Kearney Wornall Foundation,” MCC Chancellor Kimberly Beatty said. “We know that one in 10 jobs in Missouri is directly tied to agriculture, and the MCC Agriculture Institute will play a major role in training students for those jobs. These foundations help Metropolitan Community College better serve not just our students and communities, but also local business and industry.”

Metropolitan Community College is Kansas City’s oldest public institution of higher learning (founded in 1915); was Missouri’s first community college; and was among the first institutions in the nation to confer associate degrees. MCC offers more than 120 academic and career programs at five campuses (including MCC-Online) and serves about 20,000 students annually.