Expanding workforce access in the biotech industry: Northeastern BioConnect Phase 2
In response to the EDA’s Build Back Better Regional Challenge, theBioConnects New EnglandPhase 2 Proposal was successfully submitted March 15. With over 125 letters of support (Including Middlesex 3 Coalition) from municipal, state, and federal levels of government, community organizations, academia, and industry across Massachusetts, Maine, and Rhode Island, the coalition is incredibly grateful for your engagement and support throughout the proposal development in Phase 2.
The coalition,BioConnects New England, builds a hub-and-spoke model that supports existing and establishes new biomanufacturing infrastructure and training pathways to increase employment and educational opportunities for low- and moderate-income communities in Massachusetts, Maine and Rhode Island.
The coalition will strengthen the life sciences talent pipeline by providing workers with multiple on- and off-ramps into the biotech industry through high school career-pathway programs, apprenticeships, community college training, college degrees, and entrepreneurship opportunities. Community engagement with residents in Gateway Cities and rural areas across the three states will be a key strategy throughout the initiative to increase STEM career opportunities, particularly for women and people of color.
Until now, the common perception has been that biotechnology is stuck in the ivory tower of academia, inaccessible to all but a chosen few. BioConnects New England will ensure economic opportunities created by this fast-growing industry offer equal access to stable, well-paying jobs with a clear career pathway to prosperity. After all, in order for the biotech industry to thrive, it needs to realize this as well.
BioConnects New England is co-led by Middlesex 3 Member Jared R. Auclair, associate dean and director of the Biopharmaceutical Analysis and Training Laboratory (BATL) at Northeastern University, and Alicia Sasser Modestino, an associate professor and research director of the Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy atNortheastern University.
Read More Here: https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2022/03/17/viewpoint-expanding-workforce-access-in-the-biote.html