Feature
Training for Job Growth
April 9, 2007
The new Indiana Center for the Life Sciences trains workers for entry-level jobs
Interior floor plan for the Indiana Center for the Life Sciences education and training facility.
The life sciences create not only new medicines, cures, and technologies, but also new jobs. So many jobs, in fact, that there aren't enough trained workers to fill them.
Recognizing a potential shortfall of people qualified to staff entry-level life sciences positions, two years ago then-director of the Bloomington Life Sciences Partnership, Steve Bryant, worked with a group of local and regional partners to apply for a $50,000 Strategic Skills Initiative (SSI) grant from the state. The purpose of the grant would be to study how best to prepare workers for jobs in the life sciences. To Bryant's surprise, the state gave the group $1.8 million on the condition that they not only study life sciences work preparation but also make it happen. The grant became the catalyst for a partnership between the Bloomington Life Sciences Partnership, the South Central Region 8 Workforce Board, WorkOne, Ivy Tech Bloomington, Indiana University Bloomington's Division of Continuing Studies, the Monroe County Redevelopment Commission and local businesses to create a local life sciences education and training institute.
Now called the Indiana Center for the Life Sciences and housed temporarily in classrooms on the Ivy Tech campus, the training program is in its first year of operation. This past January, 60 students enrolled in a 3-week program introducing them to the basics of life sciences, computer literacy, teamwork, and other skills. A related program caters to students interested in careers as technicians for the bio-pharmaceutical and medical devices industries. The program introduces students to the basics of the biomedical industry and readies them for jobs as lab technicians, calibration technicians, and maintenance technicians in life sciences plants. The Center also offers associate degree programs in chemistry, biology, microbiology and biotechnology.
"The days of workers being able to use their hands and check their brains at the door in manufacturing work are going away," said interim director of the Bloomington Life Sciences Partnership George Telthorst, who — together with life sciences industry veteran John Stevens — has overseen development of the curriculum and the proposed facility's design.
Telthorst added, "All employees have to be actively engaged, especially in the life sciences when things are going into people's bodies. So life sciences industries need people who know what a clean room is, know how to read and follow written instructions, are comfortable taking measurements (including using the metric system), and are good at dealing with fractions and figuring percentages."
Program graduates receive a certificate and are guaranteed interviews with local life sciences companies including Cook, Baxter, and Boston Scientific. Telthorst said that with the growing demand for entry-level employees, these and other firms are happy to support the effort to train workers, many of whom are changing careers or have been laid off from manufacturing jobs in the auto and other industries.
"Many of the first group of students at the Center have experience in manufacturing in other areas, and retraining them for work in the life sciences will help provide a steady pipeline of operators and technicians for local businesses so they can sustain their workforce," Telthorst said. "It's a win-win situation, because life sciences jobs pay better than other types of manufacturing jobs in the state, and a steady supply of workers helps life sciences companies — both ones that are established and startups — grow and prosper."
The Center has nearly finalized plans for a new building on land adjacent to the Ivy Tech, Bloomington campus and will begin construction this year. The 20,000 square foot facility will have four labs, three classrooms, and ample space for hands-on training where companies can set up simulated assembly lines and equipment. A simulated clean room will help instruct students on gowning, washing, and other sterilization practices necessary in a life sciences manufacturing environment.
Telthorst said that the new facility will allow the Center to expand course offerings and up student enrollment over the next few years. The $1.8 million state grant will help subsidize the $600 tuition cost for the several hundred students that Telthorst expects will enroll in the next year.
"There's a lot of excitement about new businesses and jobs in the life sciences, but training workers to fill those jobs often gets overlooked," said Telthorst. "We're doing out best to fill the training gap and prepare workers to take advantage of the opportunities."
