‘Historic’ grant will help West Virginia State University build Agriculture Complex

INSTITUTE, W.Va. — West Virginia State University has received a $26.5 million federal grant that will help the school build a new, 40,000 square foot Agriculture Complex. 

The new complex will house lab space for the West Virginia Department of Agriculture and the school’s Purdy School of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources.

“As a proud 1890 land-grant institution, West Virginia State University has a long-standing responsibility to advance agriculture education, research and service,” West Virginia State University President Ericke S. Cage told reporters Thursday. “This new agricultural laboratory will significantly expand our ability to fulfill that mission. 

“It will strengthen our capacity for agricultural research, education and assistance to producers across the state. It will support critical work in food safety, microbiology, shelf life studies and value-added agricultural development,” he said. 

The grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture represents the largest competitive grant in the school’s 135-year history. WVSU is getting the second-highest amount of the 36 schools that are getting grants from the program, school leaders say. 

“That, ladies and gentlemen, is an extraordinary achievement for this university,” Cage said. “It demonstrates something that we have known for a long time here at West Virginia State, and that is that our institution can compete and win at the highest levels. We may not be the largest institution in the country or in the state, but we have the talent, the expertise, the vision and determination to compete with the very best.”

The grant comes from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Research Facilities Act Program, a $121 million investment nationwide. 

“For 164 years, USDA has partnered with America’s great land-grant and agricultural universities to produce the discoveries, service and education needed to keep the nation fed and to fuel U.S. agricultural progress around the world,” NIFA Director Dr. Jaye L. Hamby said in announcing the program in June. “This investment reaffirms our commitment to that valued partnership and to the next generation of agriculturists. We are excited to see the tremendous impact this program will have to accelerate research from the lab to the marketplace and the fields to improve profitability for our farmers, ranchers, and producers and secure our nation’s food supply.”

Located in Institute, West Virginia State University is one of two historically black colleges and universities in West Virginia. 

Former Gov. Jim Justice announced the project during his 2024 state of the state address. The state Legislature approved $50 million in state funding for the project during a special legislative session in May 2024. 

The school held a groundbreaking ceremony for the project in November 2024. 

When the $50 million state award was announced, leaders said West Virginia State University was the only land-grant university in the country without its own agricultural program. The Purdy family gave $2.5 million to help develop the new school. 

WVSU leaders say the school leveraged the $50 million state funding allocation to get the federal award. 

“That is a significant return on the state’s initial commitment and a demonstration of what is possible when state investment and federal opportunity come together,” Cage said. 

Construction on the complex is expected to start in early 2027. Leaders expect the building will be completed and occupied in 2029. 

Perkins&Will is leading the project’s design and PJ Dick and Pray Construction will be construction manager, the school said in a news release. 

The agricultural facility will have food science laboratories for food safety, microbiology and shelf-life studies; a commercial kitchen, flexible agriculture and natural resources laboratories, agricultural artificial intelligence computing and teaching space for the agriculture school, WVSU said in a news release.