NCGrads2Work: Helping students leap from high school to pharma

Graduating high school, taking a training class, and landing a new job made for a busy June 2023 for Jahmari Staton. Then the real excitement came.

A few months into his job on the pharmaceutical manufacturing line at Catalent Inc. in Greenville, Jahmari was at home when he noticed what medication his mother was taking.

“What’s crazy about it is that my mother takes the medication we make,” he said. “When I saw what she was taking, I told her, ‘Hey, I make this!’ It blew her mind.”

Taking a job that could contribute to improving his mother’s health wasn’t in Jahmari’s plan for his future. But working in pharma manufacturing was a distinct possibility - and one that he planned for just as he was graduating from D.H. Conley High School.

Thanks to a training program called NCGrads2Work, Jahmari and other Pitt County students can get a head start on a promising career in pharma manufacturing.

Preparing for a pharma career

NCGrads2Work began in 2019 as the Pharma K12 Workforce Training Development Initiative. A team led by Mark Phillips, vice president of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center and executive director of NCBiotech’s Eastern Regional Office, developed the program to meet two goals: Help pharmaceutical manufacturers in the Greenville area find local skilled talent, and give graduating high school seniors a career path into pharma manufacturing.

Based on initial successes, the program got a significant boost in 2022 with the Accelerate NC - Life Sciences Manufacturing initiative. Accelerate NC, led by NCBiotech, is funded by a $25 million grant as part of the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Build Back Better Regional Challenge.

NCGrads2Work is a key part of Accelerate NC’s Community Engagement project. Originally, the grant funded 96 students in Pitt County. With a recent no-cost extension, the grant will fund up to 126 students and can include students in Pitt County as well as surrounding areas. All of that is a big jump from the seven students who went through the program in its first year.

Students take a two-day immersive training program at the Pharmaceutical Services Network (PSN) at Pitt Community College (PSN@PCC), which is housed within the Technology Enterprise Center. After learning the basics of pharmaceutical manufacturing, they interview for jobs at Catalent or Thermo Fisher Scientific.

“It’s so rewarding because you’re opening the students up to opportunities for a career in pharmaceutical development,” said Monica Lassiter, NCGrads2Work program coordinator for NCBiotech. “A lot of these kids don’t know what they’re going to do after high school. They’re also trying to figure out how to pay for college.”

Seeing the possibilities

Rebecca Loshbaugh, another student in the 2023 training cohort, applied for NCGrads2Work before graduating from Pitt County Early College High School. The program helped her see the possibilities of a career in pharma manufacturing.

“When I was in school, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life for the longest time,” she said. “This program gave me the opportunity to figure that out. The chances of getting a job after finishing the program go up a lot.”

As the training ended, she interviewed at Catalent, speaking with department managers in packaging, development and manufacturing. She got a job in packaging. A year into her role, she is making plans to go to college and advance her career in pharmaceuticals.

“I do think it’s an amazing career choice. My favorite thing about the job is it’s fast-paced, more so than other jobs.”

Rebecca and her fellow students learn both theory and practice in their training program. Key concepts include working in a regulated environment, maintaining sterile operating standards, and learning manufacturing techniques for solid dose medicines, which include capsules and tablets.

Students completing the program earn a certification for their expedited training and are guaranteed an interview with a local life sciences manufacturing employer.

Bernetta Bradley, guidance counselor at Pitt County Early College, said the program shows a commitment to cultivating home-grown talent for life sciences employers in the region.

“A lot of students are thinking about doing something after high school other than going straight to a four-year college,” she said. “We’re preparing them for whatever is next, particularly employment.

NCGrads2Work, she said, has changed lives, giving students a strong career path and a better opportunity for continuing their education.

“They have a purpose. They have a place to go. They go in, work for a year or so, and if they want to stay in pharmaceutical manufacturing, that’s great. But they also have other opportunities.”

Industry perspective

NCGrads2Work depends as much on employers as on the training itself. Thermo Fisher Scientific was an early champion, working with NCBiotech and the Pharmaceutical Services Network at Pitt Community College to design the program.

The company, a global leader in life sciences with nearly $43 billion in annual revenue, cited its need for a long-term local talent pipeline when the program began. Thermo Fisher Scientific has made significant investments in expanding its Greenville operations, which manufactures and packages medicines for treating a variety of conditions. The sprawling campus of about 1.5 million square feet is known in the industry as a leading site for continuous manufacturing, or uninterrupted production around the clock.

“We’ve hired several of the students who have gone through the program, and most of them have actually been promoted within Thermo Fisher,” said Carlin Blakley, human resources generalist at Thermo Fisher. “It’s definitely great for the students and for us to participate in. These students have shown an interest in life sciences manufacturing. The certificate gives them a little extra training.”

Meanwhile, Catalent began participating in NCGrads2Work in 2023. Catalent is one of the leading contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) for the pharmaceutical industry. Its 330,000-square-foot Greenville facility provides analytical, manufacturing and packaging operations for oral solid dose medications.

The work at both companies requires careful attention to detail. That's exactly what Jahmari Staton learned in the training program and has put to use on the manufacturing line at Catalent - and in the classroom. He’s majoring in engineering at East Carolina University and attends classes during the day before going to work at Catalent at 4 p.m. for his shift that ends at 2 a.m.

“It’s a lot of hard work and takes a lot of dedication, but I’m sure it’s going to be worth it. Starting your career early is so beneficial.”

For more information on NCGrads2Work and the opportunities it affords students in Eastern NC, please contact Monica Lassiter at [email protected].