NCI New Headquarters | Named Peltier Complex
Keith Peltier, previous Northern Crops Council Chairman and current General Manager of Proseed.
The Northern Crops Insitute’s new headquarters will be named the Peltier Complex. NCI cannot be more excited to foster learning in a new facility that is named after a family that has worked hard for generations to carry out our same mission. NCI might not be where it is today without the Peltier family.
NDSU recently released an article announcing the name of the new Agricultural Products Development Center. The announcement is as follows:
“From farming to the seed business, to grain elevators, to serving on commodities boards in the state, the Peltier family is uniquely aware of the critical role NDSU's College of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Natural Resources plays in our state, the nation, and the world,” NDSU President Dean L. Bresciani said. The Peltier family made leadership philanthropic gifts to support the private fundraising portion of the project, which partnered with the North Dakota Legislature to complete the overall financing package. “We believe this is a showcase building for agriculture in North Dakota and for marketing our products to the world,” Keith Peltier '75, president and general manager of Proseed, said. “My dad, who's not living anymore, was a great promoter of ag products.”
Joe Peltier was in the elevator business for nearly 50 years and held several positions with Arthur Farmers Elevator/Arthur Companies including general manager and vice president from 1955 through 1992 and as a board member from 1957 through 2007. He was chairman of the North Dakota Crop Improvement Association from 1958-1964 and was the first chairman of the North Dakota Sunflower Council from 1976-1980. Joe was also a member of the North Dakota House of Representatives from 1979-1985 and served on the State Board of Higher Education from 1993-2000. The Peltier family's NDSU legacy goes all the way back to NDSU's early days.
Joe's maternal grandmother, Jessamine Slaughter Burgum, was the first female student at NDSU. His mother, Marjorie Burgum Peltier, continued her education at NDSU, and all of Joe's children, Keith '75, Jeff '76, Suzette '79, and Betty-Jo '83, are alumni. Located in the southwest corner of NDSU's campus, the state-of-the-art facility will be uniquely positioned as a cornerstone of the University while being just minutes away from the fields that yield much of the world's food. “It's fantastic that we can put the Peltier name on this building given the family's history with the institution and their support of NDSU agriculture,” Greg Lardy, NDSU's vice president for agricultural affairs, said.
“Joe Peltier was active with a variety of agricultural research programs and supporting those in a number of ways, and his family has continued to carry on that legacy,” Greg Lardy explained. Joe was also active in the creation of the NCI in the late-1970s and early-1980s and would often host trade groups at the elevator when they came to the Institute. Keith served on the Northern Crops Council, the governing board for NCI, for six years. “The Peltiers have been longtime leaders in agriculture in the region, and NCI is no exception,” Mark Jirik, NCI director, said.
“We are so grateful to the entire Peltier family and their commitment to NDSU, the In Our Hands campaign, and our collective future”. A groundbreaking and naming ceremony for the Peltier Complex will be held Friday, Nov. 19, 2021, at 2 p.m. The ceremony will take place on the second floor of the NDSU Wallman Wellness Center, which faces the future site of the new Peltier Complex.