Business

Workforce Solutions Are Energizing Johnston County's Economy

Andrew Corp. found a willing workforce for its facility in Smithfield.

Utilities undergird every successful economic development project. Without them‚ jobs go elsewhere.

Yet‚ beyond the essential gas‚ electric‚ water‚ telecommunications and wastewater connections‚ there lurks in contemporary industry circles an asset more prized than energy or circuitry.

A pipeline to people – supplying a trained‚ tested and talented workforce – may be the most powerful connection of all.

A valuable North Carolina nexus for that manpower is the Johnston County Workforce Development Center‚ which opened in 2005 as a $4 million‚ 30‚000-square-foot facility focused on preparing people for biotechnology‚ business and industry careers.

“We’re the best-kept secret for a lot of industries‚” says Joy Callahan‚ the center’s director. Since 1999‚ the center has prepped 500 people for the pharmaceutical sector alone through a one-semester program.

BioWork’s 128 classroom hours produce a high placement rate with such local employers as Novo Nordisk‚ Hospira and Talecris Biotherapeutics.

The biotech employers formed the impetus for the center‚ agreeing to be part of a research-training zone that pumps payments in lieu of taxes to fund the center. Those employers tap the power of the center to train existing workers‚ too.

For Talecris‚ Donna Steele oversees the training of hundreds of employees each year at the center‚ where Talecris donated a filling line that simulates that production of the company’s blood plasma products. Talecris employs 1‚800 just a mile away‚ but the sanctuary of the Workforce Development Center is invaluable to Steele.

Because a single batch of Talecris product on a fill line can cost $1 million‚ training is critical – and it peaks as parts of the plant close for maintenance.

“That’s a wonderful time for us to train‚” says Steele‚ the company’s performance development manager. “And this facility fits our needs. Before‚ we had to travel all over the county to have classes.”

Beyond line training‚ Talecris conducts American Society for Quality certification‚ software training and technical writing instruction at the center. A branch of the Smithfield-based Johnston Community College‚ the center can deliver four-year degrees through partnerships with North Carolina State and East Carolina universities.

Creative workforce solutions occur beyond the center‚ too. When Illinois-based Andrew Corp. planned to close a Smithfield satellite dish facility after acquiring the assets of Channel Master‚ Andrew changed its mind when an industrial real estate group offered to buy and lease back the building‚ enabling the company to keep a valuable 260-person workforce.

“We hope to hire more‚” says Brian Sawyer‚ Andrew’s director of program management. “We hope to grow. There was a good workforce here. We had an established workforce and professional staff available here‚ and it’s a good market to recruit factory labor here.”

Steele’s pharmaceutical career had taken her through Ohio‚ New York‚ New Jersey and Virginia before arriving in Johnston County in 2004.

“I never had this cooperation before when you would go to seek training solutions for hundreds of people to be trained in a short period of time‚” she says. “I have never seen such cooperation between the entities of economic development‚ the community colleges‚ North Carolina State and the governments.”

Unlike the Andrew Corp. story‚ sometimes facilities do close permanently. And that’s when the Johnston County Workforce Development organization does some of its best work – by tapping people’s potential‚ Callahan says.

“The most rewarding thing is we’ve been able to go in and help these people who have been displaced‚” she says. “They’ve been able to get a job in one semester – and better-paying jobs because of what we’ve done here.”

Story by Gary Perilloux
Photo by Ian Curcio

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