Accelerate NC Coalition wins national business award
A statewide partnership to boost workforce training and career opportunities in North Carolina’s life sciences manufacturing industry has won an accolade from a national business publication.
Business Facilities, a source of news and trends for site-selection decision-makers, recognized the Accelerate NC Coalition with a 2025 Economic Development Organization award.
The Accelerate NC Coalition is a statewide partnership dedicated to strengthening North Carolina’s life sciences manufacturing workforce. It is led by the North Carolina Biotechnology Center with involvement by several industrial, academic and economic development partners.
“This award is an encouraging recognition of the Coalition and its progress to date,” said Laura Rowley, Ph.D., vice president of life science economic development at NCBiotech. “It affirms that the collaborative approach championed in North Carolina to create a robust life sciences manufacturing workforce is remarkable.”
The Coalition is sponsoring programs to increase training opportunities and career awareness in life sciences manufacturing in 79 of North Carolina’s 100 counties.
BBBRC winner
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.
Various projects are under way to attract and train a more robust workforce to manufacture vaccines, antibodies and other medicines while creating well paying, rewarding careers for North Carolinians, including those from rural communities.
The projects include outreach and wrap-around support to attract potential employees, a short course to prepare recent high school graduates for local careers, expanded access to entry-level training programs at 10 community colleges, a two-week course in bioprocessing for students at six of the state’s historically minority colleges and universities, and the establishment of registered apprenticeship programs to facilitate on-the-job training.
“These projects are transforming the lives of people across North Carolina by presenting them with new career opportunities they might not have considered before,” said Sara Imhof, Ph.D., vice president of NCBiotech’s Focused Initiatives Team. “The first step is to make them aware of the abundant opportunities, and the next step is to provide them with a variety of targeted training programs to qualify them for good jobs in the industry.”
The Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina’s State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) also won an Economic Development Organization award. STEP helps small businesses in North Carolina fund costs associated with international trade.
