On Tuesday, November 19, representatives from St. Louis Community College, St. Louis Regional Commerce and Growth Association (RCGA), the Missouri Biotechnology Association (MoBio) and Wyeth Biopharma presented members of the League of Innovation’s Conference on Information Technology with a look at how the BioBelt was conceived and the community college’s continuing role in its development.
The League of Innovation is an international consortium of community colleges, whose purpose is to share innovative practices among its members. The annual conferences on technology have traditionally concentrated on how members can best use information technology to enhance teaching. However, this year a new area, biotechnology, was added to the agenda, and St. Louis Community College was asked to give a two-hour presentation on their three-year old program and how it was enhancing the region and state’s initiatives to expand the existing biotech community that exists in St. Louis and the state of Missouri.
The presentation was simulcast via the World Wide Web as it happened, and viewers were able to ask questions of the presenters along with the live audience. Anyone interested in the presentation can view it at the League of Innovation website, www.league.org.
The presentation was divided into two portions, divided by a short break. Attendees could choose to view either portion, although most were present for both sections. Dr. Henry Shannon, Chancellor of St. Louis Community College, welcomed the audience and gave a brief description of the colleges’ efforts to develop a strong biotechnology program. Dr. Sarah Perkins, Associate Dean of Science, Math and Engineering for the Florissant Valley Campus, served as moderator for the program and introduced the participants in the discussion.
The opening segment dealt with the branding of the St. Louis region as the BioBelt. Frank Stokes, RCGA, led the group through the city’s identification of biotechnology as an industry that could be developed around existing strengths, and explained the importance of branding the region the BioBelt from a marketing standpoint. Following Mr. Stokes was Barbara Wilhelm, Program Director of MoBio, who explained how the statewide organization was conceived and developed into one of the fastest growing groups of its kind in the nation. Both Stokes and Wilhelm highlighted the partnership that existed with the community college from the beginning of each effort.
The opening session concluded with Dr. Patricia Donahue, Vice-Chancellor for Education at St. Louis Community College, who described how the college secured funding, developed facilities and hired staff to make the biotechnology program at the community college not only a reality, but a success.
Part two of the program began with the viewing of a new promotional video that highlights the biotechnology program at St. Louis Community College and outlined not only the types of skills being taught to graduates, but also where they are finding employment.
Eilene Lyons, Coordinator of the Biotechnology Program at Florissant Valley, then discussed development of the curriculum, utilizing industry input, articulation agreements between the biotechnology program and technical school programs, as well as with 4-year institutions.
Lyons was followed by Dr. Richard Norris, Senior Project Associate-Biotechnology, who described his unique position as the link between the program and the biotechnology community. Norris related the marketing strategies that have been utilized to get the program off the ground and the aggressive networking within the biotechnology industry, local and state government agencies and educational institutions that have helped to position the community college as a recognized part of the biotechnology cluster within the city and state.
The session concluded with Dr. Donohue outlining the college’s workforce development arm, the Center for Business, Industry and Labor (CBIL) and their interest and effort to establish ways in which they can assist not only in the development of the college’s biotechnology program, but in the development of the local industry as well.
The session was well received by participants, as most of the presenters found themselves still answering questions long after the program had officially concluded. The ability to exchange ideas with one another is at the heart of the League of Innovations reason for existing, and this program was a prime example of how beneficial that can be to other institutions about to embark on the same road to developing similar programs.