The Hormel Institute took the chance to show off the results of its labor Tuesday.

Local dignitaries and health advocates were invited to the Institute to celebrate the beginning of construction on the Institute’s upcoming Live Learning Center, as well as to take a tour of the Institute’s 20-lab expansion on the eastern side of its complex.

“Today is just one more phase of that long-range planning and vision we have for the Hormel Institute,” Gary Ray, executive director of the Hormel Foundation, said.

“In order to be a world class, recognized research facility, you need to be able to collaborate worldwide,” he added.

The 74,000 square foot, $28.5 million project will add 20 labs and about 120 new employees to the Institute once it’s complete. Institute leaders secured $13.5 million in state bonding funds in 2012 and matched that with contributions from the Hormel Foundation, which further donated $9.5 million for technology and recruiting efforts as the Institute finishes this expansion.

In addition, the Live Learning Center will have a 250-seat auditorium with theater-style seating. Up-to-date communication technology will be installed for better broadcasting and online conferencing.

With the new technology, researchers in the auditorium will be able to participate in presentations and discussions with other scientists from anywhere around the world. The Hormel Institute’s researchers have many collaborations throughout the United States as well as with scientists in numerous other countries.

The space will also include a larger multipurpose room, which Institute scientists will use when they begin to host several international research conferences over the next few years. Institute officials say an international symposium is planned to coincide with the expansion’s 2016 grand opening.

Several community members spoke to a crowd of people about how important the Institute’s work has become.

“We’ve all lost someone to cancer, but because of the Institute’s research, we’ve also had friends and family that have survived,” Kathy Finley, director of the Paint the Town Pink fundraising event for the Institute, said.

According to Doreen Gillard, she and her husband Tom became huge supporters of the Institute after Tom was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Though Tom is still fighting the disease, the Institute’s work has given them hope for a cure.

“In the last five years, there’s been multiple, multiple discoveries and changes in the medical field, and that is due to the research like this that happens at the Hormel Institute,” Doreen said.

The Institute isn’t only working on expansion efforts at the moment. Last month, Institute and Foundation officials announced a $6.5 million apartment complex, dubbed Science Park Housing, which will be built by the end of the year.

Science Park Housing, located at Eighth Street and 17th Avenue Northeast across the street from the Institute, will have 42 units, 30 of which will be one-bedroom apartments. It is the first stage of a larger campus planned for the Institute as it expands in size.