| For Release: IMMEDIATE | Contact: Public Affairs |
| Date: March 4, 2004 | (919) 807-6963 |
Susan Seymour named BioNetwork Director for the North Carolina Community College System
RALEIGH: Susan Seymour has been named the BioNetwork Director at the North Carolina Community College System Office. As director of the Biotechnology Office, Ms. Seymour will develop and coordinate all components of the BioNetwork System, a new economic development initiative funded by the Golden LEAF Foundation.In August of 2003, Golden LEAF committed up to $60 million to launch a program to train North Carolinians for the emerging biotechnology industry. The community college share of the funding is $8.7 million for two years. This money will be used to set up the BioNetwork System. Industry is also contributing in-kind support valued at $700 thousand to the BioNetwork.
The NCCCS Biotechnology Office, under Seymour’s leadership, will oversee the management, partnership building, program administration and supervision of professional, paraprofessional and support staff. The goal of the office is to align all biotechnology education and training offered by the NCCCS into a cohesive and responsive system. She will also facilitate industrial development and expansion with new and existing biotechnology businesses in North Carolina.
The first order of business for Ms. Seymour is to oversee the request for proposals (RFP) process from community colleges interested in hosting one of five Functional Skills Centers. There will also be proposals from colleges wanting to manage the community college section of the BioNetwork "Central Training Center" (BTEC), located on NC State’s campus.
Each college selected as a Functional Skills Center will serve as a lead institution responsible for initiating projects, developing curricula, and accruing expertise that will be shared with all colleges within the state who have biotech companies locate in their communities.
The BTEC on NC State’s campus includes dedicated NCCCS space and access to a sophisticated and realistic learning environment for community college students, incumbent workers and faculty on machinery and facilities too expensive to replicate locally.
The BioNetwork System will also include a Mobile Biotech-Training Laboratory, which will be outfitted with faculty and equipment to extend the outreach of every local college.
Ms. Seymour will also be responsible for promoting the development of the biotechnology industry in North Carolina via the training resources and capabilities of the NCCCS and the resources of the BioNetwork. Her expertise in the area was developed as one of the authors of the request that led to the Golden LEAF Biotechnology grant that funds this initiative, as well as her exhaustive work in helping to develop biotechnology training programs.
In announcing the appointment, President Martin Lancaster stated, "I am pleased that the person who has worked incredibly hard in the design of and advocacy for the BioNetwork has been hired for this position. No one in the state knows more or cares more about the community college role in biotechnology than Susan."
Ms. Seymour has been with the NCCCS since 1998. She was the training director for the Research Triangle Region in the Economic and Workforce Development Division. She was responsible for promoting economic and workforce development in the RTP. She worked with seven community colleges to assist in the development of customized training programs for local industry. Prominent in that training were programs specific to Biotech expertise and consultation. Those programs included: BioQuality, BioBusiness, BioWork, Scheduled Maintenance Shutdown Training and BioPavillion. She was also the primary liaison with the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.
Seymour is married and has one daughter, Katie.
The North Carolina Community College System is the state’s primary provider of workforce education and training. The North Carolina Biomanufacturing and Pharmaceutical Training Consortium is anchored by the statewide NC community colleges BioNetwork. BioNetwork is the single most ambitious and important initiative in the history of the North Carolina Community College System. As traditional manufacturing is declining in the state, the biotech cluster can be seen as the bright light for a secure economic future for North Carolina.
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