By Victoria Lim for WorkingNation.
Broadcast version by Danielle Smith for Arkansas News Service reporting for the WorkingNation-Public News Service Collaboration

Arkansas aims to create a hub of biomanufacturing talent with a new program led by the University of Arkansas (U of A). In as little as two weeks, Arkansans can earn a biomanufacturing micro-credential which can qualify them for jobs earning between $50,000 to $60,000 a year.

“Northwest Arkansas is a fast-growing, vibrant economy attracting world-class talent with our art and culinary amenities, and outdoor recreation opportunities,” says Toby Teeter, director of U of A’s Collaborative. “However, our region is underrepresented in the biotech sector. We want to offer our community high-paying career opportunities in this sector.”

The Collaborative is both a physical space and an innovation center, education, and research initiative that works with northwest Arkansas industries located in Bentonville, 30 miles north of the main campus.

Teeter joined forces with Tara Dryer, senior managing director of the U of A Global Campus Professional and Workforce Development, to create the university’s first program of its kind – the BioAR Train Biomanufacturing Workforce Initiative (BTBWI). The duo received a federal grant of close to a half million dollars through the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration’s 2023 STEM Talent Challenge. The university is providing more than a half million dollars in matching funds.

Increasing the development of bio-industry credentials is a national priority. In Arkansas, the importance of biomanufacturing is two-fold, according to Teeter – it is one of the fastest growing segments of biotech and med tech industries and is part of the fast-growing class of life-saving medicines. Academia, workforce development, and companies want to be a part of this effort.

“We have Arkansas-based private equity and venture capital investing in biomanufacturing companies from around the world, including SymBiosis Capital Management here in Bentonville,” Teeter says. “As their discoveries require industrial manufacturing scale, we hope to attract contract biomanufacturers to relocate, expand, or establish in Arkansas to service the growing list of biomanufacturing startups with Arkansas ties. These large-scale biomanufacturing employers will require a trained workforce to meet these needs.”

“We are thrilled that the U of A has received this generous grant to train new workers for Arkansas’ growing biomanufacturing sector,” says SymBiosis Managing Partner Chidozie Ugwumba in a statement. “In the coming years, we expect innovative companies will come to our state to benefit from the skilled biomanufacturing professionals this program will produce.”

Teeter and Dryer traveled to other universities including Texas A&M’s National Center for Therapeutic Manufacturing to observe how similar workforce development centers are converting low-skill workers into performing biomanufacturing workers in less than three weeks.

The program will offer two tracts. The first will be a set of self-paced learning modules delivered online. It will be widely available across the state through partnerships with high schools, community colleges, and regional workforce centers across Arkansas. The second tract is an instructor-led hybrid curriculum that will leverage virtual reality equipment and software to replicate specific operations of machinery and biomanufacturing processes. The first VR-based biomanufacturing center will be located at the Collaborative in Bentonville. Two additional centers will eventually open in other areas of the state.

The curriculum will be available to high school graduates and workers from other fields with no prior manufacturing experience. It could be incorporated into existing high school science classes. Reaching underserved communities iss also a component of the grant.

“We hope to diversify our economy and add this fast-growing field to our state,” Teeter says. “Retaining and growing our workforce is a key economic development goal for our state. We don’t want our talent seeking biotech jobs leaving our state.”

The credential can help participants qualify for technician jobs working in pharmaceutical, food and beverage, cosmetics, and other fields. The online modules will be free. The “first few” cohorts of students will receive a full scholarship for the virtual reality portion.

The center at the Collaborative is expected to open by the end of March. The goal is to certify more than a hundred workers during the 24-month grant period and place them with biomanufacturing companies relocating or expanding into Arkansas. The hope is that employers will also use the training pipeline to train their workforce and cover the training costs.

“The transformation of our region in the space of biomanufacturing will be a collaboration between the University, business and industry, and other stakeholders,” Dryer says. “We each play a critical role in making this a success within our region. The workforce training is just one piece of the puzzle, and it is exciting to watch it all unfold.”


Victoria Lim wrote this article for WorkingNation.


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Colorado, already considered a national leader in workforce development, is aiming to raise the bar even higher.

Gov. Jared Polis recently issued an executive order calling on state agencies to create a more integrated system which meets learners where they are so they can access the education and training they need to get good jobs in Colorado's evolving economy.

Angie Paccione, executive director of the Colorado Department of Higher Education, said the challenge is to restructure siloed agencies and initiatives and design a system to work even better.

"Bring together the best of what each individual division and department is doing," Paccione recommended. "Bring it together in a way that's going to make it easier for individuals to navigate and also ultimately get the skills and training that they need for the jobs that they want."

Colorado ranks first nationally, tied with Massachusetts, for its percentage of residents who have a credential or degree beyond high school but there is room for improvement. There are currently two available jobs for every unemployed person in the state. More than 90% of top-paying jobs require some form of postsecondary education but just half of graduating seniors are signing up for college or certificate programs, well below the national average of 61%.

Paccione stressed the new order aims to find out what's keeping high school graduates from taking the next step and then eliminate barriers so all Colorado students have a clear pathway toward a sustainable wage. She added it is not just about creating worker bees.

"We're all going to work 40 to 45 years," Paccione emphasized. "We want to make sure that students are getting the education and training they need for the jobs of the future and the jobs that will inspire them and fulfill them as well."

The executive order called for the Colorado Departments of Labor and Employment, Higher Education, and Regulatory Agencies, working with the Office of Economic Development and International Trade and key staff in the governor's office to submit a comprehensive plan by Dec. 1.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.


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Washington's Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction has revised its public school discipline policies, and advocates for children said the changes weaken student protections and OSPI did not seek enough community feedback.

One of the new rules removes requirements for schools to consider alternative forms of discipline before suspensions or expulsions.

Derick Harris, executive director of the Black Education Strategy Roundtable, said since Black students are twice as likely to face disciplinary actions compared with white students, they will be unfairly affected by the change.

"This appears to me to be some rollback to a bygone era of zero-tolerance policy," Harris contended. "Which we know within the Black community is a streamlined pathway from the school to the prison."

OSPI said it followed all the required procedures in creating the new rules, including gathering public comment at four public hearings across the state. All school districts are required to follow the new rules, which take effect in July.

Eric Holzapfel, chief engagement officer for the League of Education Voters, criticized OSPI for doing only the bare minimum to engage the community about the new rules, arguing they did not give enough notice for the public hearings and there were not enough of them.

"There was one in the whole Puget Sound, so that's close to three million people," Holzapfel pointed out. "Only one public hearing from 4 to 6 p.m. How is a working parent going to make that?"

Harris explained most of the Black residents in Washington live around Seattle and SeaTac, yet the nearest OSPI meeting to comment on the new rules was in Federal Way, more than an hour's drive during rush hour.

"This represents an intentional neglect of voices that this would impact the most," Harris asserted.

Data show just one suspension can lead to decreased academic performance, a higher chance of involvement with the criminal justice system and lower wages.

Hunger among college students in California has jumped dramatically since the pandemic, yet Cal-Fresh -- a statewide low-income food assistance program -- fails to reach more than 70% of eligible students.

So, food pantries at colleges and universities are finding creative ways to meet student needs.

In the 2023-24 school year, 46% of students at Cal Poly Humboldt used the school's Oh-SNAP! food pantry, 4% more than the year before.

Mira Friedman - lead for health education and clinic support services there, who coordinates the program - said people may think that if students can afford tuition, they can afford food.

But that's often untrue.

"It's a misconception, because oftentimes financial aid is not significant enough to pay for all the expenses," said Friedman. "Food is very expensive, housing insecurity is very real, and food insecurity is very real for our students."

Data from the California Student Aid Commission found that more than two-thirds of college students surveyed were food insecure in 2023.

Humboldt's Oh-SNAP! program offers cooking and gardening classes, sponsors a weekly farm stand with organic fruits and vegetables, and even has a pop-up thrift store with furniture and kitchen items.

Students are also notified to pick up extra food from dining halls.

Contra Costa College, a 2-year school in San Pablo, recently launched a pilot program with 20 refrigerated lockers where students can pick up groceries they order online.

Basic needs coordinator Hope Dixon said the program also helps students with Cal-Fresh applications.

"The eligibility requirements around CalFresh are incredibly challenging," said Dixon. "I have a flow chart that helps students pre-review if they have some eligibility. In order to apply, there's an interview, and students are often in classes. If they miss the call, it's very, very hard."

Students who are on a school food plan only qualify for Cal Fresh if it is the most minimal plan.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.



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