By Jim Shamp, News & Publications Editor
Hailing his Durham campus’ newest science building as a “jewel in the triple crown,” North Carolina Central University Chancellor Charlie Nelms led dedication ceremonies Monday for the $20 million Biomanufacturing Research Institute and Technology Enterprise (BRITE).
Some 200 students, faculty, well-wishers and dignitaries gathered in the welcoming shade of the 52,000-square-foot concrete-and-glass structure as temperatures and hopes soared with the ceremonial ribbon cutting.
Speakers included Erskine Bowles, president of the UNC System; Golden LEAF Chairman Jesse Bunn; Reuben Young, chief legal counsel to Governor Mike Easley; Hal Price, of NCBIO; and Norris Tolson, president and CEO of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.
 |
| NCCU Chancellor Charlie Nelms addresses the crowd at the BRITE dedication ceremony. |
“BRITE will further our state’s competitive advantage in biotechnology,” Nelms said.
Bowles, making reference to the 100-plus-degree temperatures, brought chuckles from the crowd by noting, “Today we’re glimpsing a future that’s not only warm, but it’s also BRITE.”
BRITE opens the way for NCCU to offer bachelors, masters and doctorate degrees in the pharmaceutical and related life sciences, preparing graduates for work in the state’s growing biotechnology sectors where the average salary runs $70,000 a year.
Though BRITE officially opened with the ceremony, the specialized academic program actually started in the nearby Mary M. Townes Science Building in fall of 2006, graduating four students this spring. Currently there are 65 undergraduates and 28 graduate students enrolled in the program, with an ultimate goal of 200.
BRITE, like its sister BTEC facility that opened in September on the North Carolina State University Centennial Campus, was built with grant money from the Golden LEAF Foundation, which handles North Carolina tobacco settlement funds.
The buildings and the North Carolina Community Colleges’ BioNetwork program, which connects more than 20 community colleges offering biotechnology training, are key work force development efforts in the state's public-private partnership called NCBioImpact.
Tolson lauded the teamwork and statewide support that made the NCBioImpact package possible, saying North Carolina’s life science workforce training and educational programs are now “second to none in the world.”
“We see a lot of people at the Biotechnology Center, from all over the world,” said Tolson, “and they constantly ask, ‘How do you do it?’” He said he explains that it started nearly 25 years ago with state leaders who had “a decided vision that would raise all boats across North Carolina. And we continue to work together today to create opportunity for all our people. We can put these [visitors] in a car and show them people working in biotechnology all across North Carolina.”
Price added that the opening of BRITE caps “a win-win combination for all concerned.”
The NCBioImpact partnership also includes the UNC System, the state’s biotechnology industry and NCBIO, and the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.