RALEIGH:  North Carolina has the largest concentration of biotechnology industry in the Southeast and ranks among the top five states in the nation. These companies need well-trained employees. The North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) has developed a course that will provide skilled workers for this growing industry. The BioWork Process Technician Course was developed in cooperation with the North Carolina Biotechnology Center to meet industry workforce development needs.

The NCCCS and the Biotech Center unveiled the course for BioWork industry representatives and instructors and Community College personnel at a workshop at the Biotech Center in Research Triangle Park on December 11.

The Biotechnology Center workshop is the kick-off for an intensive three days of training at Vance-Granville Community College. During the training instructors will learn aspects of the BioWork Course. Units include: Working Safely, Building Quality into the Product, measuring Process Variables, Maintaining Sterile Processes, and Growing Living Cells.

BioWork is a 128-hour course for process technicians. It was developed in response to industry’s need to increase the pool of potential employees for entry-level process technician jobs in Pharmaceutical, Bioprocess, and Chemical Manufacturing companies. Workers in this field have a starting salary of about $22,000, the average salary is $44,000.

North Carolina is well positioned to benefit from biotechnology. Traditional industries, especially agriculture, food and medicine, are finding ways to apply the principles of biotechnology to revolutionize manufacturing processes for existing products. Some of the companies involved with BioWork are Novozymes, DuPont, Biogen, Ajinomoto, Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline, Novo Nordisk, and others.

"We regard the training and development of a pool of potential employees as a critical strategic factor for the continued growth of the North Carolina bioscience manufacturing industry," says Dr. Scott Ralls, Vice President for Economic and Workforce Development at the NCCCS.

North Carolina’s biotech workforce now numbers 25,000 and could top 100,000 within 20 years. The North Carolina Community College System is the "Gateway to jobs on the BioFrontier."

-NCCCS-

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