State Legislative Best Practices in Support of Bioscience Industry Development

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Bioscience Workforce Initiatives

States a possessing high quality labor pools with needed skills for the industry are increasingly more attractive to corporate location decision makers. In this global economy, nearly every competitor has access to breakthroughs in technology and to the equipment and capital to produce standardized products. It is those regions however that possess the human capital with its insights and competencies that experience a competitive advantage.

To assist with expanding their state's labor pool, state legislatures are looking to community colleges to create two-year associate degree programs and on-site training to better reflect the changing needs of the various sectors of the bioscience industry. These new efforts have strengthened the communication lines between the industry and academe to speed access to vital human capital needed for success in the marketplace.

An additional benefit is the high wage jobs that the industry generates in the community where this industry is located. That average annual employee income is then circulated into the larger economy generating jobs, tax revenues, and other quality of life benefits in the community.

North Carolina: The Golden LEAF
PDF of Legislative Language (23 KB)
The North Carolina Legislature approved a law in 1999 that placed tobacco settlement payments into three separate trust funds. One of these trust funds, the Golden LEAF (Long-term Economic Advancement Foundation), is a nonprofit foundation devoted to advancing the economic well being of North Carolinians and to transforming the state's economy. In 2003, The Golden LEAF Foundation's board committed $60 million to create a statewide training program for biomanufacturing workers. This grant combined with $4.5 million from the North Carolina Biosciences Organization provided the North Carolina State University in Raleigh with $36 million to construct a biomanufacturing facility to train workers.

Illinois: BioTIP
PDF of Legislative Language (13 KB)
The Illinois Department of Community Economic Opportunity created the Biotechnology/Bioscience Training Investment Program (BioTIP) to provide state funded grants to companies to cover training costs for graduate students who find part-time employment as lab technicians/engineers in the biotechnology sector as well as additional training to students to enhance their practical skills. Under this program, employers are reimbursed for up to 50% of the costs for training for graduate student employees.

California: Workforce and Development Program
PDF of Legislative Language (96 KB)
The Economic & Workforce Development Program in California was established to create education, training, and services that contribute to workforce improvement, technology deployment and business development in identified strategic priority area including biotechnology. The program provides communication and direct interaction between private and public sector education and other private training providers. The California Community Colleges work with employers, advisory committees, and agency partners to identify workforce education and training needs both in the classroom and in corporate on-site locations.

The Arkansas Biotechnology Development and Training Act of 1997
PDF of Legislative Language (20 KB)
The Arkansas Biotechnology Development and Training Act of 1997, Senate Bill 322, created a number of incentives for companies to engage in a biotechnology-based business in Arkansas. This legislation provides, for the first time, income tax credits for the cost of training to prepare employees to work in either a company setting or at an accredited Arkansas higher education institution.

DISCLAIMER: The examples cited in this document are only a small fraction of policies state governments have put in place to grow the bioscience industry. It is not intended to be exclusive of other policies to develop technology-based industries.