White House Report Outlines the Path to Providing a Bioeconomy Workforce

???????????Last week the White House published a report called “Building the Bioworkforce of the Future:?Expanding Equitable Pathways into Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Jobs.”?The report coincided with several conferences that were being held in Washington DC.?Biotech faculty from many states met at the National Academy of Sciences building on the mall for InnovATEBio’s “Envisioning the Next Bioscience Workforce” summit.?And then the National Institute for Innovation in the Manufacture of Biopharmaceuticals held their annual conference a few miles away.?

Building-the-Bioworkforce-of-the-Future.pdf (whitehouse.gov)

It’s as if the authors of the report had been part of the conversation that educators and industry trainers have been having for the last few years.?

This important report by several governmental agencies continues a focus of the White House on building America’s future manufacturing capacity and specifically capability in the biosciences.?The CHIPS and Science Act will provide the money required to act upon these recommendations. ?The President issued an executive order last September 2022 to direct several governmental agencies to focus on the bioeconomy.?Subsequently those agencies wrote reports of their own to highlight their specific role in the overall strategy.?

These plans come in the nick of time.?It’s half time, and we are down a few touchdowns.?The European Union is way ahead of us in particular sectors biomanufacturing.?We find ourselves having to import talent from there, especially in process development.?

?There are a few very astute insights in this report.?First, the report recognizes the scale of the workforce challenge.?And it acknowledges the key hurdle:?a lack of awareness of the field and its opportunities.?It recognizes the key role that will be played by community and technical colleges.?And it recognizes the urgent need to diversify the workforce.?

From the Executive Summary:?

That is why President Biden signed the Executive Order (E.O. 14081) that launched a National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative in September 2022. This initiative aims to ensure that cutting-edge products resulting from biotechnology invented in the United States are manufactured in the United States. By doing so, we will create jobs at home, build stronger supply chains, and lower prices for American families.

However, this initiative will only succeed if our nation has a skilled and diverse workforce to meet the needs of the growing bioeconomy today and into the future. Studies and stakeholder consultations demonstrate:

1) consistent growth in the bioeconomy;

2) increasing demand for talent for many bioeconomy occupations requiring a wide range of skills and post-secondary credentials—including many that do not require a four-year college degree; and

3) a need to remove barriers for students and workers—particularly those who have been underrepresented in the bioeconomy—to prepare for, secure, and advance in good jobs and careers in biotechnology and biomanufacturing.

Research and consultations also emphasize that to build a skilled and diverse workforce for the bioeconomy, collaboration across government, business, unions, community-based organizations, community colleges, and other stakeholders is essential. No one entity can meet this need alone.

The goals of the plan are to ensure that:

1. U.S. education and training programs can meet the rapidly changing skill needs for good jobs and careers in the bioeconomy and increasing demand for workers;

2. A diverse pipeline of workers, including women, people of color, people living in rural communities, individuals with disabilities, justice-involved individuals, individuals returning to the workforce, and others underrepresented in emerging fields, can prepare for, secure, and advance in good bioeconomy jobs and careers;

3. Federal resources are directed at evidence-based education and training approaches that advance equity. This plan presents the following core recommendations, along with select new and ongoing actions that the Administration is taking and will take—in collaboration with employers; unions; state, local and Tribal governments; high schools; institutions of higher education; industry associations; and other stakeholders.

And the report proposes that these goals be accompanied by the following recommendations:?

1. Expand and diversify the talent pool for biotechnology and biomanufacturing jobs and careers to promote innovation and advance equity.

2. Strengthen worker-centered sector strategies and other partnerships between employers, labor organizations, community colleges, and other training providers to grow and diversify the bioworkforce.

3. Develop and rigorously evaluate innovative approaches to education and training for biotechnology and biomanufacturing jobs and careers, scaling and promoting those found to be most effective.

4. Partner with state, local, and Tribal governments, education and training providers, bioscience associations, unions and other worker-serving organizations, and other stakeholders to raise awareness about the promise and potential of careers in the bioworkforce.

5. Improve data and analytic capacity and cross-sector collaboration to advance equity and support effective workforce development—including the development of industry recognized credentials and competency models.

?DETAILS from the Report

Recommendation #1: Expand and diversify the talent pool for biotechnology and biomanufacturing jobs and careers to promote innovation and advance equity.

1. Build awareness of biotechnology and biomanufacturing careers through engagement with underserved communities, K-12 systems, the public workforce system, youth-serving organizations, veteran’s organizations, and other stakeholders.

Subrecommendations

1.????Support HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs to expand their programs and provide support for more of their students to move into biotechnology and biomanufacturing careers.

2.????Provide supportive and wrap-around services, including child care, housing, and transportation assistance, to help students and workers stay in and complete education and training programs

3. Encourage employers to adopt skills-based hiring

4. Ensure pathways into the bioworkforce include clear onramps for all young workers, especially opportunities for youth who may be disconnected from the formal education system

5. Promote diversity and inclusion by encouraging mentorship and cohort-based programs—especially for biomanufacturing occupations and for senior and leadership positions.

6. Design education and training programs in a way that allows a wide range of students and workers to succeed.

7. Ensure programs and working environments are inclusive and accessible.

8. Strengthen the bioworkforce by welcoming and retaining foreign-born talent.

Recommendation #2: Strengthen worker-centered sector strategies and other partnerships between employers, labor organizations, community colleges, and other training providers to grow and diversify the bioworkforce.

Subrecommendations:

1.????Expand funding for worker-centered sector strategies

2.????Secure commitments from employers, unions, community colleges, and other stakeholders to start new partnerships to train workers for and place them in biotechnology and biomanufacturing jobs, including through Registered Apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs, and youth career and college pathways.

Recommendation #3: Develop and rigorously evaluate innovative approaches to education and training for biotechnology and biomanufacturing jobs and careers, scaling and promoting those found to be most effective.

Key sub-recommendations and select action steps include:

1.????Expand pathways into the skilled technical workforce through community colleges, Registered Apprenticeships, partnerships with state and local workforce boards, integrated education and training programs, and other high-quality work-based learning models.

2.????Encourage states and institutions to support full articulation and transfer between biotechnology and biomanufacturing courses provided at community colleges and similar programs at four-year institutions

3.????Encourage states and institutions to support full articulation and transfer between biotechnology and biomanufacturing courses provided at community colleges and similar programs at four-year institutions

4.????Ensure that faculty and educators working in the biotechnology and biomanufacturing fields have sufficient institutional support to ensure recruitment and retention of instructors who are responsible for training the bioworkforce of the future, including provision of timely reasonable accommodations as needed.

5.????Expand and disseminate advanced learning technologies and practices across traditional and non-traditional learning pathways for biotechnology and biomanufacturing

Recommendation #4: Partner with state, local, and Tribal governments, education and training providers, bioscience associations, unions and other worker-serving organizations, and other stakeholders to raise awareness about the promise and potential of careers in the bioworkforce.

Key sub-recommendations and select action steps include:

1. Build awareness of biotechnology and biomanufacturing careers through engagement with underserved communities, K-12 systems, the public workforce system, youth-serving organizations, veteran’s organizations, and other stakeholders

2. Develop public-private partnerships with state, local, and Tribal governments, state bioscience associations, and industry organizations to raise awareness of bioworkforce careers

3. Build a national cohort of trusted individuals with ties to local communities, who can raise awareness of career opportunities with an emphasis on outreach to underserved areas and populations.

Recommendation #5: Improve data and analytic capacity and cross-sector collaboration to advance equity and support effective workforce development—including the development of industry-recognized credentials and competency models.

Key sub-recommendations and select action steps include:

1.????Enhance labor market data and analytical capacity to support regional sector strategies and other workforce efforts.

2.????Develop, identify and promote industry-recognized competency models, credentials and certificates.

3.????Improve the tracking of career outcomes for participants in government-sponsored training programs.

Each recommendation and sub-recommendation is accompanied by action plans.?Each action plan identifies agencies and programs and grants that would provide funding.?

???????????Significantly, the report explicitly outlined the role of both organizations that met the same week – InnovATEBIO and NIIMBL.?In addition it called out the importance of the two other Manufacturing USA Institutes involved in biotech, BioMADE and BioFabUSA.?

???????????The challenge of building a huge bioeconomy is significant.?But, with White House help, we have a plan.?