A Message from Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell
October 1, 2009
Welcome to Chester County, located in the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Whether you are relocating your company, expanding and growing your existing business or have a dream of starting up a new one, Chester County is the place for you.
The Chester County Economic Development Council can help you. The CCEDC has partnered with the Commonwealth for over forty-two years, assisting companies to find suitable sites and acquire construction financing. Today, the Council also offers an extensive range of economic development resources, including manufacturing consultation, technology assistance, international trade promotion and workforce development. The results have been impressive.
Since 1960, CCEDC activities have resulted directly in the creation of nearly 85,000 new jobs, the retention of over 110,000 existing jobs, the acquisition of approximately $3.5 billion in financing loans and the establishment of over 3,750 new companies in Chester County alone.
Given the challenging economic situation facing the Commonwealth today, Chester County must continue to focus on investing in their economy, achieving real results for their community. Contact the Chester County Economic Development Council to find out more about the services available to your company and the quality of life your family and employees can enjoy in Chester County. I wholeheartedly encourage companies to put down roots, and invest in Pennsylvania!
Best Wishes,
Governor Ed Rendell
Life Science Career Alliance
October 1, 2009
Two biotechnology certificate programs established at community colleges to combat critical skilled employee shortfall
Three community colleges to offer program in spring, with two more joining in the fall
PHILADELPHIA – In partnership with regional community colleges and biotechnology companies, the Life Science Ca-reer Alliance (LSCA) has developed two industry-validated college certificate programs designed to fill increasing num-bers of skilled employee shortfalls. One of the certificates is for cell/tissue growth, while the other is for fermentation. Both models contain components of quality control/quality assurance to ensure a standardized training need and a more efficient curriculum.
Not only will this program create career pipelines and enhancement opportunities for classroom participants, but it will usher in a new way to enhance existing skills, training courses and recruiting trends throughout the region. Upon com-pletion of the course, the program features an internship component that introduces students to real life lab experiences and workforce skills.
“The Delaware Valley is a hotbed for biotechnology; future industry growth in the region will be dependent on the contin-ued ability to supply qualified workers,” said James Logan, the Biotech Project Senior Program Manager. “Working with this innovative industry enables the LSCA and workforce practitioners to develop programs to meet the knowledge, skills and abilities required for a Biotechnology Technician. Even better, we were able to assemble five community colleges to work with industry leaders to design, create and validate a curriculum that will be taught identically at each campus, a rarity today.”
Logan noted that no other local initiative of this kind links colleges and industry so closely together to create a standard-ized biotechnology, industry-driven education and workforce model.
“Work in the biotechnology field requires a unique set of skills that these certificate programs will now be able to teach to their students,” said Loreen Bloodgood, Trinity Manager for Global Manufacturing and Supply (GMS) Biopharm at GlaxoSmithKline. “These programs offer a new way to potentially identify the employees that will be needed in the future as the biopharmaceuticals business continues to grow.”
Logan noted that the certificate program will serve up to 100 participants, half consisting of college students and half in-cumbent workers. Depending on the participating college those who complete either program may receive college cred-its and all will receive a “Biotechnology Technician Certificate” of completion.
Burlington County Community College, Montgomery County Community College and Bucks County Community College will begin offering the certificate programs during the 2009 spring semester. Community College of Philadelphia and Camden County College will begin during the 2009 fall semester. Logan said other community colleges may begin offer-ing the course as well.
Industry partners include Tengion, Centocor, GlaxoSmithKline, Strategic Diagnostics, DuPont, ImClone, and The Fraun-hofer Center for Molecular Biotechnology, Kensey Nash Corp., LifeSensors Inc., Wyeth and Morphotek.
About the Life Science Career Alliance (LSCA)
The Life Science Career Alliance (LSCA) is a nonprofit dedicated to mobilizing regional resources to ensure that a skilled workforce is available to support the life science sectors of our economy, including hospitals and pharmaceutical, bio-technology, medical device and diagnostic companies. LSCA seeks to promote the regional economy and workforce development through career enhancement for adults and youth.