The $500,000 addition features four classrooms and a Rice Research lab. The lab is an extension of work conducted at the Missouri Rice Council's Research Farm near Glennonville, Mo. The Rice Research Lab is used to test the quality of grain for commercial use. The new lab will be used to develop new rice varieties and to evaluate varieties from other countries to determine if they are suitable for growth in this area.

In addition to the lab, one of the new classrooms will be used as a science laboratory, and two of the rooms are state-of-the-art ITV classrooms for distance learning courses. The fourth classroom has been outfitted as a modern lecture hall that seats 50 in a semi-circle configuration.

The addition of two ITV classrooms will help ease the scheduling of ITV courses offered by Southeast Missouri State University and Three Rivers Community College at the BEC. The new science laboratory will allow for more flexibility in offering biology, physics and chemistry labs, which in the past, were alternated in one laboratory.

"This new addition is greatly needed," said Dr. Rick Hux, director of the CBEC. "It has been difficult at times in the recent past to accommodate all the courses we have requests for within the confines of the present facility. The expansion provides needed additional space and technology to meet the growing demand for coursework."

Dignitaries expected to be on hand for the ceremony are state Sen. Bill Foster; state Reps. Otto Bean and Rob Mayer; Kenneth W. Dobbins, president of Southeast Missouri State University; and Dr. John Cooper, president of Three Rivers Community College.

The addition, along with $150,000 in equipment and technology, was made possible through private donations, fund-raising dinners held by the CBEC Advisory Council in cooperation with the Southeast Missouri University Foundation, and matching University funds totaling $125,000. The center's 2001 dinner raised $28,000; the 2002 dinner raised $20,639; and the 2003 dinner raised $16,773.