Koch Industries Inc. has committed to provide the lead gift to create a trading center within the W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University, a crucial step forward for the privately funded project.

Koch’s pledge of $346,000 represents more than half of the projected cost of $600,000 to establish the trading lab and purchase computer hardware and software. Another $400,000 will be raised to create an endowment for equipment and software upgrades.

Other private donors so far have committed about $272,000 to the lab, which will be called the Koch Global Trading Center.

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