When announcing Novartis' new vaccine-manufacturing facility at Holly Springs, NC, CEO Joerge Reinhardt said, "The fact that we can have instantaneous workers was absolutely essential. It was the main reason why we picked North Carolina." The NC Community College System (NCCCS) BioNetwork is providing that workforce for Novartis and the hundreds of other companies that make North Carolina the number-three biotech state in the United States.
NCCCS BioNetwork is a statewide initiative that networks the more than 20 community colleges, which provide specialized education and training for the pharma, biotechnology, and life sciences sectors. Many of these colleges produce graduates who are well qualified to work as technicians in laboratories and in contract research.
BioNetwork is the leading network of its kind in the United States. It has six specialized centers - staffed by people directly out of industry - that provide support to biotechnology faculty at the community colleges. ...
