Shenaut Named to Lead A-B Tech BioBusiness Center
Cheryl Shenaut, Biotech Enterprise Catalyst Center Manager
A woman who was a key player in the development of a biotechnology cluster in Oklahoma City has been named the manager of A-B Tech's new BioBusiness Center.
Cheryl McMurry Shenaut will provide leadership and administrative oversight for the center, one of six across the state that are part of the North Carolina Community College System's BioNetwork initiative to prepare a world-class biotech workforce.
Shenaut was instrumental in the design and creation of the Oklahoma Technology Commercialization Center, a state-funded, privately-run enterprise widely considered a national model for technology company commercialization, which has assisted more than 60 companies and has put together funding of more than $200 million.
During her tenure as director of technology, development and marketing for the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, Shenaut worked to recruit biotech companies and coordinated a successful statewide campaign to amend the Oklahoma Constitution to allow for public-private partnerships between university laboratories and private entrepreneurs.
Immediately before moving to Asheville, she spent three years as senior vice president of Emergent Technologies, Inc., a venture capital company headquartered in Austin, and served as president of Emergent Technologies, Oklahoma, LLP, a limited liability partnership fund with investments in five Oklahoma biotech companies. She began her involvement in the life sciences arena in New Jersey as special counsel to the chairman of MetPath, Inc., an international clinical testing laboratory, and vice president and counsel to Sci/Med, an early technology commercialization company.
Shenaut earned a master's degree at Winthrop College and a master's in public administration and a Juris Doctor at the University of South Carolina. Her undergraduate degree is from Auburn University at Montgomery. She began her career practicing law in Columbia, SC, and was subsequently appointed to positions in the U.S. Department of Transportation as the director of public affairs and the chief counsel of the Federal Highway Administration.
While in Oklahoma City, Shenaut was appointed to the Federal Reserve Board Citizen Advisory Committee for the 10th District in Kansas City, appointed by the Governor to the Governor's Oklahoma Science and Technology Commission, served as president of the Oklahoma Venture Forum, served on the Board of Directors of the Oklahoma Technology Development Corporation, the Community Council of Central Oklahoma, the Advisory Committee for the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology, the biotechnology advisory committee for Oklahoma City Community College, and held board and trustee positions in many civic, education and arts organizations.
Funded by a $320,000 grant from Golden LEAF, A-B Tech's BioBusiness Center will develop training programs and curricula designed to assist incubated biotechnology-related companies grow and thrive. Workshops and seminars will demonstrate how to assess their needs, provide services, and link them to other resource providers to help ensure they have successful starts. These programs are all designed to help recruit biotech companies to rural areas. The center will be located at A-B Tech's Enka Campus and will share its expertise in biotech incubation and business enterprises with community colleges statewide.
WNC Well Positioned to Recruit Biotech Start-Ups
Cheryl Shenaut says she decided to accept the position as manager of A-B Tech's new BioBusiness Center because Asheville is reminiscent of the Oklahoma City of the early 1990s in many regards.
"At the time, Oklahoma City was recovering from the oil, land, and cattle bust. Those three industries were the underpinnings of the economy, so Oklahoma City was struggling to find a way to diversify its own economic base, much like this part of the state has been struggling to diversify its historical dependence on textiles and manufacturing."
One of her first orders of business is to identify "potential sources of collaboration" for the center, although she's already discovered three she says Asheville is fortunate to have AdvantageWest, the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce, and Dr. Charles Moreland, former Vice Chancellor and Vice President of Research at NC State University and currently the WNC liaison for the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. She also cites A-B Tech and the region's other higher education institutions as pluses.
"My interest is in developing strong collaborative relationships with the key players in our region as well as throughout the state, so we can combine our skill sets, knowledge and experience for everyone's benefit."
Shenaut says Western North Carolina is well positioned to recruit biotech startups despite strong competition from other areas.
"Asheville has so many compelling characteristics to attract life science companies. We have unique plant life biodiversity offering broad research and development opportunities as well as having access to national research institutions; we have a very sophisticated and experienced pool of business people who are generally the champions of knowledge-based business investment; we have local and regional political leaders who are working together to support biotechnology-related business recruitment and growth; and we have this fabulous incubator facility with wet laboratories, which is quite unusual for a city without a major research institution.
"Also, North Carolina's #3 ranking for successful biotechnology research and development along with Asheville's reputation as a destination for natural beauty and arts cannot be underestimated as critical factors in recruiting life sciences entrepreneurs nationally and internationally.
"Now, add to all that the dedication to workforce development courses and training that A-B Tech is sponsoring to provide a ready labor pool and you have the potential for the development of a dynamic life sciences cluster."
Children's Holiday Party
A-B Tech's Annual Children's Holiday Party was held Dec. 3 in the Coman Gym. The Student Government Association hosted the party, where 97 children received Big Wheels, lunch, a visit to Santa and a stocking full of gifts. The Emergency Medical Science students sponsored 35 of the children, providing each one with an assembled Big Wheel, helmet and items for their stocking. Randy Rose, Associate Director of Plant Operations, was our Santa Claus this year. Children from the Headstart Program of Buncombe and Madison Counties raced around the gym on three wheels between eating lunch with their sponsors and talking with Santa during this tradition.