Exploring Biotechnology: A Pathway to Prosperity in Rural and Urban Oregon

Through this planning project, the PIs and colleagues are engaging potential partners in the systematic identification of long-term (5-10 year) occupational and workforce education and training needs for the Oregon biotechnology industry. This investigation of technician workforce training needs in the Willamette Valley includes secondary and post-secondary educational institutions, business and industry, and government agencies. The project is conducting a DACUM process with employers designed to identify specific skill sets critical to industry's training needs. These skill sets are being used to assist in the design of curricula for customized training, certificates, two-year degrees, and transfer programs. The DACUM process allows the colleges to become more responsive to the education needs of the biotech industry employers. Components of the planning process can assist in the identification of potential challenges or barriers and in the development of strategies for managing these issues for secondary and postsecondary educational partners.

Assessing the region's needs is an essential component in effectively and efficiently developing coordinated, cross-industry career pathways from secondary schools to two-year colleges and from two-year colleges to both the workforce and four-year institutions. The college is sited within a relatively easy commuting distance of the major population centers of Portland, Salem, Eugene, and Corvallis. In addition, the college can directly provide educational and training access to small urban and rural communities throughout much of rural western Oregon. Through its partnership with the Oregon Bioscience Association, major investments in science and technology, recent grants supporting biofuel production, and the integration of numerical modeling throughout engineering curricula and supporting programs, the college has established itself as a statewide leader in workforce development within the technology sector.

The Central Willamette Valley, long known as an agricultural center for the state and region, has experienced recent growth within the biotechnology industry. Access to cellulosic materials makes the region an attractive location for biofuel research and production. Direct proximity to major shipping and transportation routes has attracted biopharmaceutical, biomanufacturing and food processing companies to the area. The two major questions now facing the region are regarding critical mass: 1) Does the existing biotechnology industry within the Willamette Valley have sufficient training and workforce needs to support the creation of dedicated educational and training programs? and 2) How much additional investment in local education would provide a sufficiently skilled workforce to encourage additional biotech companies to relocate to the region? This ATE center planning project can provide answers to these core planning questions for the Willamette Valley and statewide biotechnology forces in Oregon. Results are being shared broadly with industry, workforce investment boards, educational institutions, and government agencies.