Accelerate NC welcomes new life sciences employees into the community

The recent Accelerate NC Career Celebration at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center brought together key players in the growing ecosystem that makes North Carolina a global leader in life sciences manufacturing.

The third biannual event recognized 121 individuals who have successfully leveraged Accelerate NC initiatives to secure a life sciences career. Many of their peers, teachers, employers, family and friends also attended the celebration. 

Laura Rowley, vice president of life sciences economic development at NCBiotech, opened the ceremony by congratulating the newest members of the state’s life sciences community and expressed gratitude to the Accelerate NC Life Sciences Manufacturing Coalition and the 29 employers recognized in the Spring 2025 event. Since the start of the grant, Accelerate NC has celebrated 404 new hires.

The Accelerate NC Coalition is a statewide partnership dedicated to strengthening North Carolina’s life sciences manufacturing workforce. It is led by NCBiotech with involvement by several industrial, academic and economic development partners. The Coalition is sponsoring programs to increase training opportunities and career awareness in life sciences manufacturing in 79 of North Carolina’s 100 counties. The work is funded by a $25 million Phase 2 award from the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Build Back Better Regional Challenge, granted in September 2022. 

Business Facilities, a source of news and trends for site-selection decision-makers, earlier this year, recognized the Accelerate NC Coalition with a 2025 Economic Development Organization award. NCBiotech’s work on Accelerate NC was a contributing factor to naming NCBiotech to Fast Company’s prestigious list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies of 2025.

In a video message, North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein thanked the attendees for their “hard work and the dedication that you’ve demonstrated to the life sciences.”

“To meet the demands of this growing industry, our state needs programs and partnerships like Accelerate NC to provide students with the technical education they need,” Stein said. “I’m grateful for programs like BioNetwork, Made In Durham BULLS, and the North Carolina Life Sciences Apprenticeship (Consortium), for providing outlets for you to explore your passions in life sciences and foster that passion into a career.”

Alicia Alford, a recent graduate of the BULLS Life Sciences Academy and Durham Technical Community College, said Accelerate NC had helped her get her new “big girl job” as a Manufacturing Associate I - Apprentice at Biogen. Her advice to the other new life sciences employees: “Keep on doing it.”

She’s shadowing a subject matter expert at Biogen as part of her apprenticeship. She said she is already enjoying her new position. Her apprenticeship enables her to receive full-time pay and benefits while completing on-the-job training.

The life sciences companies with new employees include Actalent (2 employees), Adams Handmade Soap (1 employee), Amgen (16 employees), Baxter Healthcare (1 employee), Biogen (9 employees), Budd Group (2 employees), Carolina Components Group (4 employees), Central Carolina Community College (2 employees), CSL Seqirus (5 employees), Eli Lilly and Company (6 employees), FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies (1 employee), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (1 employee), Grifols (2 employees), KBI Biopharma (1 employee), Kyowa Kirin (1 employee), Lindy Biosciences (1 employee), MedaSource (1 employee), Merck (7 employees), Novo Nordisk (26 employees), Novonesis (1 employee), PCI (1 employee), Pfizer (1 employee), ProKidney (1 employee), Randstad (16 employees), Restor3D (1 employee), Spectraforce (3 employees), Thermo Fisher Scientific (7 employees), and Unit Dose Solutions (1 employee). 

A representative from each participating life sciences company called each of its new employees onto the auditorium stage at NCBiotech. To applause from the audience, each employee was recognized by name, training program, and new life sciences position as they signed a poster with an outline of the State of North Carolina and posed for a photo.

NCBiotech officials closed the event with a call to continue welcoming more North Carolinians into the state’s life sciences community.

To keep up with Accelerate NC opportunities and success stories, join the North Carolina Life Sciences Career Community on LinkedIn.