The Hormel Institute is on schedule to complete its expansion projects by the end of the year, but the Institute’s work isn’t quite done.

Institute staff are looking to raise about $512,000 over the next year for the Live Learning Center, just in time for the Institute’s Grand Opening and first international cancer conference on June 1, 2016.

“We really want to keep up momentum from now until June 1,” Gail Dennison, the Institute’s director of public relations, said.

The expansion project has progressed without any major setbacks. The shell of the $28.5 million, 74,000-square foot expansion is completed while workers finish the expansion’s interior.

The 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.

At the same time, the Institute’s $4.5 million Live Learning Center, which will feature a 250-seat auditorium, multipurpose conference room and more, began construction earlier this year and will still be set to wrap up before 2016.

“We’re basically on schedule to finish the major components by the end of year,” project manager Craig Jones said.

Yet the Institute’s fundraising for the Live Learning Center will continue for some time. Dennison and other staff hope to engage the community as well as national and international firms and other organizations to secure funding.

The Institute is offering perks for individual donors who are looking to help the Institute. People who donate at least $500 will be recognized on a new donor wall in the Live Learning Center while those who donate at least $1,000 will also be invited to attend the Institute’s grand opening reception and subsequent cancer research conference on June 1.

“We’re excited to let people know about the Institute,” Dennison said.