Golden LEAF grant to fund equipment for new training center in Wilson
A $13 million grant from Golden LEAF Foundation will fund training equipment at Wilson Community College to support Johnson & Johnson’s new biologics manufacturing facility in Wilson and other life sciences companies in eastern North Carolina.
The grant, awarded by Golden LEAF’s board of directors on Oct. 3, will help the community college’s new training center prepare employees for the 420 new jobs expected at the J&J plant over five years.
“The center will provide the knowledge and skills needed to work for Johnson & Johnson and other employers in the region,” said Scott T. Hamilton, president and chief executive officer of Golden LEAF. “This announcement is a major win for eastern North Carolina.”
The grant follows a $30 million commitment to the training center last year by the State of North Carolina.
The center is expected to have about 35,000 square feet of space and include simulated cleanroom environments, flexible classroom space and administrative offices. With a focus on biologics, or therapies derived from living organisms, the center is being designed to train skilled workers in complex and precise biomanufacturing processes.
A $2 billion investment
The new J&J facility, announced Oct. 1, will be operated by the company’s Janssen Biotech subsidiary. It will pay an average annual wage of over $108,000.
The facility will expand J&J’s production of biologic therapies in oncology, immunology and neuroscience as part of the company’s broader plan to advance more than 70 novel therapy and product expansion filings and launches by the end of the decade, the company said.
Construction is expected to begin in the first half of 2025 at the Wilson Corporate Park. The $2 billion facility will encompass more than 300,000 square feet.
To further enhance J&J's ability to recruit local talent, a Partnership Development Grant from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center will support the purchase of equipment to implement BioWork in Wilson County Schools. Nearby Johnston and Wake County schools have successfully leveraged North Carolina’s Career and College Promise Program to offer the BioWork certificate, providing foundational biomanufacturing training for young people before they graduate from high school.
Wilson area a life sciences magnet
Life sciences investments in Wilson have been in the spotlight lately with the announcement in late September that Reckitt Benckiser, a global leader in health, hygiene and nutrition, will establish a major production plant there to produce the over-the-counter medicine Mucinex, creating 289 jobs with an investment of $145.59 million.
The area in and around Wilson has become known as the BioPharma Crescent. It encompasses Pitt, Johnston and Wilson counties and is home to established life sciences companies such as CMP Pharma, Fresenius Kabi, Grifols, Catalent, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer and Thermo Fisher Scientific.
The J&J plant announcement builds on the momentum the region has experienced in 2024. Since the start of the year, life sciences companies have announced plans to create more than 2,600 jobs and invest over $6 billion in the BioPharma Crescent.
In addition to the Reckitt and J&J announcements, Neopac recently announced plans for a $10 million expansion in Wilson, adding a new line to its facility there. Beyond this, SCHOTT Pharma USA will be investing $371 million in a new facility to manufacture pre-fillable syringes, and IDEXX Laboratories will invest $147 million to establish a facility to produce its veterinary diagnostic products – both in Wilson.
Other recent announcements in the BioPharma Crescent include Novo Nordisk’s record-setting $4.1 billion expansion in Clayton and Nipro’s $397.8 million investment in Pitt County.
Wilson has become an attractive place for life sciences investments, particularly because of its proximity to the Research Triangle and Greenville. While Wilson benefits from existing life sciences training infrastructure including the Eastern Region Pharma Center (ERPC), Wake Tech East in Wendell, as well as the Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center (BTEC) at North Carolina State University, the scale of recent growth has created demand for the new training center at Wilson Community College.
The Golden LEAF grant for the training center was among $18.6 million awarded by the nonprofit foundation to support workforce preparedness, job creation and economic investment, agriculture scholarships, and food distribution assistance in rural North Carolina.
Golden LEAF was established in 1999 to receive a portion of North Carolina’s funding from the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement with cigarette manufacturers. Since its founding, Golden LEAF has funded 2,300 projects totaling $1.3 billion to advance economic opportunity in North Carolina’s rural, tobacco-dependent and economically distressed communities.