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SANFORD, N.C. — As North Carolina’s biotech industry growth accelerates, ������Ƶ is celebrating the opening of a facility that will prepare students for highly-skilled biotechnology manufacturing jobs. 

The newly renovated Biotechnology Building is part of the E. Eugene Moore Manufacturing and Biotech Solutions Center on ������Ƶ’s Lee Main Campus in Sanford. 

“We’re going to show you something that has been a dream for a very long time,” said ������Ƶ President Dr. Lisa M. Chapman, addressing guests at a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Biotechnology Building on Aug.14.

She praised Sanford Contractors for their renovation of the building and gave thanks for the many partners and ������Ƶ employees who worked for years to help make it possible. 

“I think we can all see the excellence in this facility,” she said.

In the Biotechnology Building, students will develop the knowledge and abilities needed to manufacture complex Life Science products, including pharmaceuticals. They will learn hands-on skills that are valuable to area biotech companies, helping ensure the safety and efficacy of the lifesaving products these companies create.

North Carolina’s life sciences industry has grown to include 860 companies statewide that employ 76,000 North Carolinians, according to Dr. Laura Rowley, Vice President for Life Science Economics Development at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, who spoke at the event. 

Just over a week prior to the ribbon cutting, leading healthcare company STERIS announced plans to create a new manufacturing and distribution center in Sanford, joining other key biotech players like Pfizer, Kyowa Kirin, and Astellas in making major investments in the region. 

Meanwhile, ������Ƶ’s Bioprocess Technology program has gone from sharing a single lab with the science department, to having its own lab, and now to having its own building, said Dr. Lisa Smelser, ������Ƶ’s Executive Director of Workforce Strategic Initiatives.

Close to fifty students are currently enrolled in ������Ƶ’s Bioprocess Technology Associate Degree program, including both adults and high school students. Across its three-county service area, the college has been training about 150 students per year in its BioWork short course. 

The new facility will expand capacity for that course to more than 300 students per year and greatly increase scheduling flexibility and capacity for ������Ƶ’s customized training programs for industry partners. 

Students in ������Ƶ’s biotech classes will benefit from cutting-edge labs, flexible learning spaces, and opportunities for hands-on training aligned with industry needs. 

The new Biotechnology Building was designed with help from ������Ƶ’s industry partners. It includes two labs to accommodate ������Ƶ’s continuing education and industry training classes, as well as a large hybrid lab/classroom with flexibility to respond to current and changing technologies. 

������Ƶ has named that hybrid space the Kyowa Kirin Innovation Hub in honor of the pharmaceutical group, a key partner and sponsor.

“When we chose Sanford for Kyowa Kirin’s first North American manufacturing facility, we knew we were making a long-term commitment not only to our business, but to this community,” said Paul Testa, the group’s Executive Vice President of Supply Chain Management. 

“The Kyowa Kirin Innovation Hub is a realization of that commitment,” he said. “By investing in education and building the skills needed for careers in biomanufacturing, we are helping local talent become part of Sanford/Lee County’s growing life sciences industry. A strong manufacturing future depends on a skilled workforce and the capabilities we need to serve patients.”

Brad Mickey, Executive Director/Manufacturing and Operations Site Head for Astellas, said that his company contributed suggestions to tweak the design of the building to help students learn industry-standard quality control procedures to avoid contamination and for analytics and monitoring in support of quality control.

The facility, he said, provides great opportunities for students.

“It gives them the opportunity to learn the business, to learn the fundamental aspects of manufacturing, build the confidence they need to enter the workforce and do great things,” he said. 

Dave Posehn, Site Lead for Pfizer in Sanford, also spoke of how ������Ƶ’s new Biotechnology Building will help train Pfizer employees and change the dynamics of the region as local students come through ������Ƶ’s biotechnology programs. 

“To have a biotech center like this will be a pillar of future growth in the community,” he said. “It’s going to be amazing.” 

For more information, visit ������Ƶ’s Bioprocess Technology programs.