Back in the 1980s, North Carolina leaders made a concerted effort to attract and grow the biotech and life sciences industries. The abundance of educational institutions and research groups in the Triangle, specifically, were fertile ground for those industries, and continues to give rise to a myriad of other enterprises.
Life sciences and biotechnology rose as tobacco and other blue-collar industries were waning in places like Durham. But these new careers were not always accessible to the average resident, whose parents or neighbors may have never worked in STEM jobs.
As those sectors continued to surge, especially since 2020, local leaders in Durham across education, government, and the private sector have worked to change that through programs like Made in Durham’s BULLS Life Sciences Academy.
So what does the future hold for Durham’s workforce development pipeline?
At the Full Frame Theater on Wednesday, roughly 80 people peered into a crystal ball, guided by three experts: JB Buxton, president at Durham Technical Community College; Nicole Niwa, head of alliance development at Novo Nordisk; and Rasheed Bellamy, chief operating officer at Made In Durham.
Together, we learned about how collaboration between the public and private sectors in Durham have created a sustainable employee pipeline that introduces young Durham residents to the training they need to take full advantage of the economic opportunities coming to the region, particularly its flourishing life sciences industry.
Attendees also learned about Durham Tech’s plans to expand its curriculum and physical campus in the coming years, including an academic partnership with Duke University, and future investments that Novo Nordisk plans to make in the North Carolina economy.
Here are 5 takeaways from the Durham Newsmakers event on The Future of Work.
Collaboration Is Key
Building the employment pipeline that gives young Durham residents access to game changing life science careers did not happen overnight. The partnerships that led to the BULLS Life Sciences Academy were deliberately cultivated over years, and took private and public funding, as well as patience and a willingness to iterate on the model until they found a successful solution. In the first six cohorts, Made In Durham graduated only 50% of its students; the next seven cohorts posted an average graduation rate above 90%. Life science companies in the region have employed dozens of BULLS Academy graduates.
Predicting Future Industries Isn’t an Exact Science
During our conversation Wednesday, Bellamy said that Made In Durham continues to monitor other potential industries to replicate the BULLS Academy model outside of life sciences. But their viability is based on numerous factors, some of which aren’t in the organization’s control. Made In Durham considered a program for clean energy, but funding cuts at the federal level, and a cooling EV market, made it difficult to commit.
Still, Bellamy said his team has established a playbook that they feel confident in, no matter the industry.
“The great thing that we learned from incubating the BULLS Life Sciences Academy is that we know the components that work around the actual academic and success coaching needed to make sure that those populations are successful, and then we also have the alumni piece,” Bellamy said.
Duke and Durham Tech are in Negotiations to Create a University Transfer Pipeline
Students who complete a two-year associate’s degree at Durham Tech or any North Carolina community college are almost guaranteed a spot at one of the state’s public universities through the North Carolina Comprehensive Articulation Agreement (CAA). A number of private universities have also entered into transfer agreements with the community college system, but Duke University, which Buxton said works well with Durham Tech, had yet to join the CAA.
On Wednesday, Buxton announced that he and Duke President Vincent Price were working on a transfer agreement that would give Durham Tech graduates more certainty when applying to the private school across town. After pointing out a few Duke employees in the audience, Buxton joked that “It’s hard for a Tar Heel to say this, but they’re a really important partner.” The two schools are planning to pilot the transfer agreement with the Duke Pratt School of Engineering before adding other disciplines.
Durham Tech Wants to Move the Needle on on Economic Mobility
Community colleges like Durham Tech are lauded for their affordability and for providing the requisite training necessary to obtain many technical trade jobs.
One of the main reasons Durham Tech deepened its commitment to the biotechnology, manufacturing and life sciences industries is the starting wages. Buxton said he doesn’t want to graduate students into poverty. In recent years, Durham Tech has tailored the college’s course offerings to better ensure students are graduating into career opportunities that provide livable wages. For those vital positions like childcare that are harder to guarantee living wages but are critical to a healthy community, Buxton said the college tries to play a hands-on role in supporting students’ career advancement following graduation.
Building stronger social networks is a key part of improving students’ wage outcomes. Buxton cited Harvard economist Raj Chetty, whose research on economic mobility draws strong connections between people who have relationships across socioeconomic tiers and their long-term financial success. Durham Tech is working to connect students with more economically diverse peer groups and off-campus networks off-campus that can lead to professional opportunities, and social growth.
“People see opportunities beyond what they would otherwise see in their family or their neighborhood,” Buxton said. “When they know somebody who works in the life sciences, they know somebody who works in health care, they know somebody who’s got an opportunity in engineering, all of a sudden, they see possibilities differently and they know people in those places.”
Buxton also announced that in addition to substantial investments in campus facilities thanks to the 2022 county bond referendum, Durham Tech recently broke ground on 125 units of affordable housing a block from campus. Buxton told the INDY in January during a tour of campus that the apartment complex will include 1, 2 and 3 bedroom units, and will be available first to students through the low-income tax credit program before opening up leasing to the wider community.
Danish Companies Have Some Nice Perks
Casey Steinbacher, executive director at Made In Durham, told the INDY that students in the BULLS Life Sciences Academy understand that the program isn’t “an activity to get a job…but an activity to start a career.”
The kinds of entry-level jobs available to Made In Durham graduates can be game changing. Nicole Niwa, head of alliance development at Novo Nordisk, said that many life science companies, including her employer, invest heavily in professional development. Other perks include occasional trips to Copenhagen, at least 70% natural light in facilities, and free fruit.
“Every employee, whether you start out as a technician, or you’re, you know, the lady that’s paid to talk,” Niwa said sheepishly, “you have an individual development plan, and you are required to own that development plan. But that development plan is fully supported, so if I go in tomorrow and I’m like, ‘this is a career that I’m loving, but I think I need to go back and get my PhD in quantum physics in order to succeed in my career,’ they will be like, no problem. We will pay for that.”
Niwa says you don’t even have to learn Danish to climb the corporate stige.
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