A-B Tech Primed To Be Leader In Biotechnology

President Bailey addresses the audience and panel at the biotechnology symposium on the Enka Campus Sept. 25.

A-B Tech's Enka Campus is well positioned to become one of five lead centers in the North Carolina Community College System that will share their expertise in biotechnology/ biomanufacturing with the rest of the state, according to the NCCCS' vice president of economic and workforce development.

Speaking at a biotechnology symposium at the Enka Campus Sept. 25, Dr. Larry Keen said the centers will be established with a portion of the $9.4 million the Golden LEAF Foundation is providing NCCCS to help train new biotechnology/biomanufacturing workers.

Keen said the wet labs in the Biotechnology Incubation and Training Center at Enka position the college well in the process to select two "functional" centers that will be created among the five lead sites. Three skills centers also will be established, Keen said, adding that NCCCS will accept requests for proposals for all five of the centers in the winter or spring.

About 75 people attended the symposium at Enka to hear some of the state's leading experts discuss the value of biotechnology manufacturing to the Western North Carolina region. In addition to A-B Tech, the event was sponsored by state Sens. Steve Metcalf, Joe Sam Queen, and Tom Apodaca.

Dr. Charles Moreland, vice chairman of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center's board of directors and retired vice chancellor for research at N.C. State University, will head the effort to bring biotech to WNC. Moreland, whose office is located at the Enka Campus, retired to Hendersonville about a year ago and said he looks forward to helping the region become a "contributing partner" in the state's biotech and biomanufacturing initiatives.

Dr. Charles Hamner, Jr., former president and CEO of the Biotech Center and now president of The North Carolina Biosciences Organization, said North Carolina ranks second in the nation in biomanufacturing capacity, and 2,200 to 3,300 new job openings are expected annually to 2005. Hamner said growth is contingent on two factors, a trained workforce and financial resources, and added that community colleges will train 60 percent of the workers while 40 percent will require an advanced degree.

W. Steven Burke, senior vice president of corporate affairs and external relations for the Biotech Center, said the bid to lure biotech is "intensely competitive" nationwide because of its economic and societal benefits. But he said Western North Carolina has several advantages, including its biodiversity, the burgeoning health care industry, the biotech incubator at the Enka Campus, and the "forthright independence" of the people who live here.

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High School Visitation Day at A-B Tech

Nearly 700 students from the Buncombe, Madison and Haywood School systems attended the Sept. 12 High School Visitation Day. They enjoyed a variety of displays and scenarios ranging from an earthbound version of the Mars Pathfinder, to a spelling robot, an interactive crime simulator, and, of course, culinary treats.

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A-B Tech Welcomes Former NC Poet Laureate

Former NC Poet Laureate Fred Chappell, posing with his sister Becky Anderson, read from his novel Brighten The Corner Where You Are as part of the Together We Read Kickoff Sept. 21 in Ferguson Auditorium.

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A Lion's Share

Bob Poore,president of the Candler Lions Club, hands President Bailey a check for $15,000 from the Club. The funds went to the A-B Tech Foundation to establish the Frank Hutchinson/Candler Lions Club Endowed Scholarship. Hutchinson, whose estate donated the funds to the Lions Club, was a long-time member of the Club. The recipients must be students from a Hominy Valley school.

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For the Record

Medical Business Resources Transcription Manager Pamela Luther wrote to Chairperson of Administrative and Medical Systems Technologies Misty Shuler thanking her and the medical transcription instructors for training quality transcriptionists for the workplace. She writes, "I have been very pleased with the basic foundations of medical transcription and the knowledge base that your students have acquired during their time spent with you."

McDonald Presents and Gets Presented

Marilyn McDonald, director of the Asheville-Buncombe-Madison Career Pathways Partnership, presented a report on TechConnect to the Buncombe County Board of Education Sept. 4. TechConnect is a summer computer-based camp for high school students. Computer Business Technologies Chairperson Pam Silvers and McDonald coordinated the first-year program On Sept. 8, McDonald presented a report to the Asheville City School Board on Afternoon College, a dual-enrolled program for high school students at A-B Tech. During the meeting, the Board recognized McDonald for her excellent coordination of the Career Pathways Partnership and the Huskins/Afternoon College program.

You Gotta Have Art!

It's time for all North Carolina Community College faculty, staff, students and alumni to submit artwork for the seventh annual North Carolina Community College Art Exhibit. The deadline for submissions is Nov. 14. All types of media are welcome, from painting to sculpture, to film and video. The selected works will be displayed on all six floors of the Caswell Building at the System Office in Raleigh. For more information, contact Chancy Kapp at the System Office.

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