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News Golden LEAF BioNetwork Grants Impacting 80 Counties
The BioNetwork team was requesting approval for Round 3 of its grant process in which it is funding BioNetwork Centers, curricular development and the specialized process technology equipment Community Colleges need to provide hands-on training for the biomanufacturing and pharmaceutical industries. In Round 3, the State Board approved just over $1,3 million in grants to fund biotech training in North Carolina. The projects approved by the State Board of Community Colleges now goes before the Golden LEAF Board for final approval. In Round 1, just over $4,3 million was approved, and in Round 2, $1,1 million was approved. If all of the projects in Round 3 are approved by Golden LEAF, 63 grants will have been awarded totalling $6,762,319 and this funding is for Community Colleges statewide. (More information is available about the Round 3 grants in a separate media release) "We are extremely proud to be able to play such a pivotal role in providing training for the biotech industry," said Community College System President H. Martin Lancaster. "These grants give us the opportunity to extend opportunities to almost every corner of North Carolina, particularly in areas where retraining for 21st Century industries is especially needed." "This funding is transforming biotechnology education and training in North Carolina at Community Colleges", said BioNetwork Director Susan Seymour. "Although our Colleges have been providing excellent training for many years, the rapid growth of the biomanufacturing industry in North Carolina has left us struggling to keep pace with their workforce training needs. This funding will help NCCCS BioNetwork to begin to make up those shortfalls," she said. The eighty Counties feeling the impact of the BioNetwork grants include counties directly served by the BioNetwork awards as well as partnership colleges with 1+1 articulation agreements. Community College State Board members heard how in 2003 BioWork - a 128-hour short course to train people for entry-level process technician employment - was offered at 6 Community Colleges. Ten Community Colleges now offer BioWork. Growth in Associate Degree programs has also been steady. Eleven curriculum Associates Degree programs are now taught in North Carolina. (See diagrams of Counties served at end of release) Even so, with the biotech and pharmaceutical industry in this state growing by about 3000 jobs a year, BioNetwork will take some time to make up the training backlog this industry needs. Figures from a NC Biotechnology Center study show that two thousand of those jobs require Community College training. The biopharmaceutical industry does not hire people without the specialized training needed to work in an FDA regulated biomanufacturing or pharmaceutical facility. The BioNetwork grant awards have provided Community Colleges with some of the equipment needed to be able to train more effectively for these industries. The grants have funded the purchasing of new or used equipment, laboratory supplies, upgrading of outdated equipment and the enhancing of laboratories. Additionally, distance education is beginning to be addressed. Because facilities are operational 24/7, distance education allows for workforce training at times suitable for people on second and third shifts. The funding for these grants comes from Golden LEAF. Golden LEAF provided startup funding for BioNetwork as part of an overall grant to the BPTC, or Biomanufacturing & Pharmaceutical Training Consortium and that funding ends in July 2005. Continued funding to support the initiative will be needed to ensure that the progress made in the past year isn't lost, particularly because this initiative is a significant catalyst to attracting new companies to North Carolina. Workforce availability and training are key considerations when companies determine where they will locate new facilities. BioNetwork is a key part of the BPTC. The BPTC is made up of BioNetwork; the Biomanufacturing Training & Education Center (BTEC) at NC State University, where the BioNetwork Capstone Center has dedicated space; and the Biomanufacturing Research Institute & Technology Enterprise at NC Central University (BRITE).
# # # For additional information, please contact Email: info@goldenleaf.org
Golden LEAF Foundation |
(February 18, 2005) -
Raleigh - The huge impact of the start-up funding by Golden LEAF for BioNetwork became apparent in a presentation to members of the State Board of Community Colleges in Raleigh which met February 17, 2005. Eighty of North Carolina's 100 Counties will have felt the impact of the past year's BioNetwork grants once the latest round of awards are rolled out.
