This award provided funding to Alamance Community College (ACC) to enhance its biotechnology programs to help meet a growing regional demand for skilled medical and bioscience technicians. As a component of the college’s new Biotechnology Center of Excellence, ACC added updated bioprocessing equipment similar to the lab equipment found at large local employers. In addition to improving student learning, the project increased the number of program completers in credit and non-credit programs, the number of program participants earning third-party credentials, and the number of program completers entering the local biomanufacturing, biopharma, health, agriculture, and laboratory workforce. These industries had demand for over 200 positions in the near future. A total of 94 incumbent and displaced workers and students received training on this equipment over a two-year period. Golden LEAF funds were used for three bioprocessing machines.
