Did you know that behind the scenes, there are people working tirelessly to bring more ag-biotech companies to NC?
Brian and Carson attended the Ag Bio and Economic Development panel at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center and came back with much to say. The theme of the night seemed to be that, although the community it trying to bring more ag-biotech companies to the area, there’s still much to do.
The two great things about North Carolina, and especially the RTP area, are that we are already a well established community; All but 1 of the 6 big ag-bio firms are located here and there are dozens of ag startups. The other great thing about the area is how much work we are putting into developing a workforce for the companies that decide to open their businesses here.
The community colleges in the area work hard to create classes and programs for students to participate in that will ready them for work with the ag biotech companies that come to the area. This is all done very methodically with insight from the companies for exactly what they’re looking for in a workforce.
So if there’s so many awesome things happening, what’s missing?
It’s not surprising that what is lacking in the area to bring businesses here is money. More money needs to be invested into startup ag biotech companies.
The other reason that was given was a lack of lab space. Lab space in NC is full or too expensive. Although there are several entities looking into building more lab space for this industry, there is still work to be done.
OK, so what’s the take away?
We need to better coordinate the players in charge of bringing and funding ag-biotech in NC. We have great players and we have a dream of being people’s first choice in location when they’re deciding where to build their ag-biotech business. We need to form a clear, compelling message to these companies and let them know that RTP is the best place in the US to be- both for work and for family.