Three Rivers College is welcoming the community to an open house and ribbon cutting for the Robert W. Plaster Free Enterprise Center, the new home of business, nursing, and allied health classes on the Poplar Bluff campus.
Ceremonies will begin at 10 a.m. Thursday and will include remarks from college and community leaders and a tour. The 41,000 square-foot facility features a 150-seat lecture hall, classrooms for all business and related studies, medical laboratory technology and nursing, a nursing simulation lab, faculty offices and a safe room capable of sheltering 3,000 people.
Three Rivers President Dr. Wesley Payne said the Robert W. Plaster Free Enterprise Center serves to provide more, and a dedicated, space for the business and related programs.
"This new home will serve to expand our business offerings and take these excellent programs to the next level. This building really changed the way campus works. We were so space cramped - at the time nursing and allied health were at another location off campus," Payne said.
"And mainly, our AACSB accredited business programs did not have a home that matched their excellence and quality. The Robert W. Plaster Free Enterprise Center provides that home for them," he said.
In addition to the dedication ceremony, the college will host an open forum featuring Dr. Stephan F. Gohmann from the University of Louisville at 1:30 p.m. in Room 108 of the Robert W. Plaster Free Enterprise Center. Dr. Gohmann will speak on entrepreneurship and economic freedom. This speaker series is made possible by the Charles Koch Foundation.
The Robert W. Plaster Free Enterprise Center takes its name from the Lebanon, Mo.-based Plaster Foundation that contributed substantial funding to the facility.
"The Plaster Foundation looked at the project and decided it fit with their free enterprise mission. We submitted a proposal to them about what would be in the building and after they accepted, they gave a large gift that really made it possible for that building to be there," Payne said.
Robert W. Plaster, a Missouri businessman and investor, established the Plaster Foundation in 1983 in order to promote expanded educational opportunities, pride in America, and belief in the free enterprise system, for the benefit of America's youth through named capital projects.
"I am excited about the new Robert W. Plaster Free Enterprise Center and the opportunities it will bring to the students of Three Rivers," said Dr. Dolly Plaster Clement, executive director of the Plaster Foundation and daughter of Robert W. Plaster. "Dad knew that a good education multiplies the effect of hard work and gives students a better start toward success in life.
"The American Dream is possible because of the opportunities available to us in the Free Enterprise system. A good education, hard work and opportunity add up to success. And success brings resources to improve our lives and the lives of those around us."
More information on the Plaster Foundation is available on the web at robertwplasterfoundation.org. For information on Three Rivers College and the many degree programs offered visit trcc.edu.