I’ve learned things that seem obvious to me…are not obvious

???????????Recently I have had several encounters that reminded me that what seems obvious to me is not really obvious. ??And maybe these things are not obvious to most people.??

Perhaps this is common: when you immerse yourself in a challenge, and surround yourself with people from your field, then it’s easy to get the wrong impression that everyone is thinking about your challenge in the same way.?I’ve learned that you can carry this misconception for years, until a casual encounter brings you back to reality.???

Every day, I think about the process of developing a biotechnology workforce that will advance the bioeconomy.?I dream about an economy based on biology rather than on fossil fuels – an economy that generates materials and energy in a sustainable way.?Several recent reports (by the Schmidt Futures and by McKinsey thinktanks) forecast that this will occur; a gigantic Life Science industry will emerge in the next decade, and that biology will dominate the rest of this century.?And the new emerging industries will need a large workforce in order to spread beyond the medical field to make an impact on every economic activity.??It seems obvious to me that this is a brighter future that we should aggressively promote.?

But what seems obvious to me is not obvious.?

I have collected some other examples:

Economic development in the bioeconomy benefits communities and their citizens

I have been working with the California Biomanufacturing Center and the City of Vacaville to encourage companies to expand their operations in California and specifically to consider Solano County and the City of Vacaville for their new sites.?On social media someone asked, “tell me why this is a good thing for our community.”?I responded that biotechnology companies typically provide jobs that pay a livable wage and that these careers provide tremendous opportunity for upward mobility.?Biotech companies also have a multiplier effect – they support other companies in the community like vendors, deliverers, caterers, and restaurants.?They often act philanthropically and contribute to local schools and charities.?And in the end, most biotech companies are working toward a social good:?they are developing therapies to save lives, or they are working to provide food or fuel in a more environmentally friendly way.?To me, the benefit of attracting and encouraging these companies seems obvious.?It isn’t obvious.???

Likewise I am working on a project whose goal is to encourage the development of a bioeconomy in Hawaii.??When I explained the goal of the project to several local residents they asked me, “A bioeconomy here??What’s in it for us?”?I painted a picture of a future where Hawaii had high paying careers –careers in fields other than tourism - and brought companies that promote the sustainable ethos of the Islands. ?I think that a bioeconomy would be a perfect fit for Hawaii – if it develops from a ground-up effort that involves everyone.?

The bioeconomy promotes careers that are fulfilling, worthwhile, and provide a livable income.?The bioeconomy will produce products in a sustainable way, and produce products that will improve lives.?We should promote the bioeconomy in every region of the United States. ??I know that I’m immersed in this, but it seems obvious to me.?????

What seems obvious to me is not obvious.?

Being a Biology major is the hot major

???????????During a recent cardiac stress test I was having a conversation with the nuclear medicine physician supervising the test.?She said, “my son completed his Biology degree but regrets it since there isn’t anything to do with it.”?“Huh,” I told her, “Biology is the hottest major of them all.”?I told her that “we live in the middle of the largest collection of biotech companies in the world and, with a little additional hands-on training, his degree provides the perfect background for him to enter a fulfilling career.?Here’s my card. Have him talk to me.?Biology is the hottest major.”?

???????????For several years, the cell and molecular biology club of one of the local universities has invited me to speak to them at their career day.?In the many times that I’ve done this, it is usual that not a single person in the room had any idea that they were surrounded by a large biotech industry and didn’t know that the San Francisco Bay Area was the center of the world for biotechnology.?Biology majors, focusing on cell and molecular biology, didn’t know about biotech.?Cell-molecular biology majors.?At a university that helped invent the field.?In the San Francisco Bay area. ?Biology majors specializing in the right discipline within the field have no idea about this career option.??

???????????To supply the workforce that we will need for this field, there should be no Biology major left behind.?Or psychology major, or sociology major for that matter.?This field is so hot that everyone can be placed into a fulfilling position.?We need to aggressive recruit into this field.?

???????????What seems obvious to me is not obvious.?

Building the bioeconomy IS Equity work

???????????Both colleges and companies are promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.?Most biotech companies have formed a diversity committee or have hired a diversity officer to work to address the demographic gaps in the field.?This challenge has persisted for a long time, but with the current focus on social justice, everyone feels a fresh urgency to address it.?

I’ve developed a talk on the task of developing a Life Science workforce and I’ve given that talk in multiple states. At the end of the talk, I make the point that recruiting people to enter into the bioeconomy, if it is done properly, IS equity work.?If we can reach out and aggressive recruit in underserved areas, if we can inspire students to enter the field that didn’t think science was for them, we can provide a career option for the residents of areas that have often been left behind.?Recruiting into a field that provides a livable wage and upward mobility is inherently equity work – work that can make a difference in the real lives of real people.?When I presented this vision, many people found it to be novel and surprising.?I was told “I never thought of it that way,” even by diversity officers.?Education at its core IS equity work – especially when it leads to productive employment in a fulfilling career.?

What seems obvious to me is not obvious.?

The field of Biotechnology IS for you

This happened last week, but it’s pretty common.?One of the administrative assistants at the college brought her son down to tour our biotech training facility and to talk to us to explore making biotech his career.?He seemed very impressed, and said that he would consider taking some classes to learn more about the field. She thanked me and I told her, “remember, this field could be for you too.?You would not look out of place in our classes.”?Her expression indicated that this idea seemed like a revelation.?A lot of people still think that college and career training is for 18 – 22 year-olds.?It isn’t.?I have had classes with students whose ages ranged from 16 to 79.?We have had multiple classes where parents took the class with a grown child (although it’s my observation that they rarely choose to be lab partners).?Biotech is a good field to choose for individuals looking to change fields.?

My experience with multiple people who successfully changed fields made this obvious to me.?

What seems obvious to me is not obvious.?

?Past experience is important

???????????Here’s something that students don’t know:?their past terrible jobs gave them valuable experience.?Many, or perhaps most, of my students worked retail or food service.?Many of them worked at the mall.?And many of them worked in fast food.?Virtually every one of them undervalues these experiences.?

“I worked as a manager at Taco Bell, but that’s unrelated to biotechnology, so I won’t put it on my resume.”?

???????????“You’re talking crazy.?Of course you are putting that on your resume.?A manager??That means someone trusted you with the keys and with the cash register. ?You supervised people. That is definitely going on your resume.”?

???????????They don’t know that every meeting that I have with someone from industry begins with, “I’m looking for someone with soft skills.”?The trend is now to call them workplace skills, or people skills, or even essential skills – but if you say soft skills everyone knows what you are talking about.?But where do you acquire these skills??At those terrible jobs where Joe Public shouts in your face complaining about something that is out of your control – and you have to have the discipline to just take it.?At those jobs where the incompetent manager hinders rather than helps your ability to get things done.?I always tell bartenders that they have the perfect preparation; they have had to deal with people who were not at their best.?

The longtime head of HR at Genentech used to tell me, “other than experience in pharmaceutical manufacturing, I view a job at In-N-Out Burger as the best preparation for biomanufacturing.?They have well-defined training, must follow SOPs, must work as a team, must learn to get-along with those who are difficult, must multi-task and prioritize, and must practice strict record keeping – any cash register shortages go on their permanent record.?It’s excellent preparation.”?

???????????Summer courses and summer internships and coding camps are all well and good, but there is nothing like the grind of a terrible job that develops and instills these soft skills.?And these jobs instill an true appreciation for a good career.

???????????I explicitly point out the value of this background. I have to, since it is universal that people undervalue this experience. ??They shouldn’t.??

What seems obvious to me is not obvious.?

Community Colleges will play a major role in Economic and Workforce Development

The community and technical colleges of the United States have been providing biotechnology education and training for several decades.?Often community colleges have better equipped teaching labs, newer facilities, and more faculty with industry experience than their university counterparts.?It is very common for 25% to 50% of the students in a community college biotech class to have a Bachelors degree or higher – this is common in every region of the United States.?Graduates take their community college class to gain hands-on experience with equipment to complement the theoretical lecture instruction that they received at their university.?One Midwest community college has a class whose perquisite is a Biology degree from the local elite university, and Texas community colleges have formalized some of their certificates by designating them “post-baccalaureate certificates”.???And community colleges offer a baccalaureate degree in 25 states – these are usually applied Bachelor of Science degrees.?

At Solano College we have built a robust guided pathway:?articulated high school biotech programsàLaboratory Assistant certificateà Biotechnology technician certificateàoptional Cell and Gene Therapy certificateàAssociates degree à Bachelors degreeà guaranteed admission into graduate school.?Alpha to omega.?Multiple entry and exit points are built into the pathway.?Again, it is common for students who graduated with a traditional Biology degree to earn the certificate.?And typically there are a few students with earned doctorates in the class.?The biotech field is so hot, that graduates at every level enjoy a near 100% placement rate.?

???????????The Manufacturing USA Institute NIIMBL, the National Institute for Innovation iin the Manufacture of Biologics, created a community college co-chair position on their Workforce Committee.?Their counterpart that covers non-pharmaceutical biomanufacturing, BioMADE, has multiple community college faculty on their workforce committee and subcommittees.?These organizations and their industrial partners recognize the important role that this sector of higher education will play in development and expansion of the upcoming bioeconomy.?

???????????But, in a conference call I sometimes encounter people who haven’t gotten this memo.?Recently I heard “I only hire people with Bachelors degrees” from a human resources professional.?They had just finished describing a position that required the skills and knowledge that I knew were explicitly being taught at their neighboring community college and not being taught at the regional university that they preferred.?When asked, “why do you require a Bachelors degree for that position?” the answer was, “I don’t know.?We always have.”?They went on to say, we have trouble diversifying our workforce” and “we have a terrible turn-over rate”. Again, I know that the community college a few miles away had one of the most diverse student bodies in the United States.?The solution to their company’s problems was staring them in the face, and they didn’t see it.?

What seems obvious to me is not obvious.?

Telling this story in a compelling way is important

Multiple speakers at multiple conferences this year have said “we have to recruit storytellers.”?Biotechnology is a field that will define the 21st century, but few people know about it.?Everyone knows what a doctor or nurse or policeman does, but no one knows about what a day in the life of a biotechnologist might entail. ?Isolated stories of new therapies, new cures, and new foods might intrigue an occasional reader, but case for developing this field must be made in in a systematic and compelling way.?

What seems obvious to me is not obvious.?But we have to work to make it obvious.?

Everyone in this field has to get busy telling the story and recruiting

???????????The bioeconomy will transform society, solve our problems, create career opportunities with a livable wage and potential for upward mobility, and, if done right and in an inclusive way, promote equity in our society.

But this apparently is not obvious.??

Distinguished Professor Jim DeKloe [email protected]?has taught at Solano College since 1990.?He founded, designed, and launched the Solano College Industrial Biotechnology program in 1997.?He serves on the workforce committees of the National Institute for Innovation in the Manufacture of Biologics (as co-chair) www.niimbl.org and the Bioindustrial Manufacturing and Design Ecosystem www.biomade.org (and as co-chair of the Professional Development subcommittee).