U.S. DOL High-Growth Jobs Initiative

The U.S. Department of Labor Awards an Alameda County WIB $2 Million for Bay Area Biotech Consortium Career Pathway Project

With an estimated 85,000 biotech-related manufacturing jobs already in the Bay Area and the industry continuing to grow, there is an increased demand for entry-level and skilled biotech manufacturing workers.

In response to growing employer demand for biotech manufacturing workers, the Alameda County Workforce Investment Board has developed a partnership to develop career pathways in biotech manufacturing, facilities management, quality control, and product engineering. Key partners include: Alameda and San Mateo County Workforce Investment Boards; Genentech; Alza; Baxter; Chiron; Abgenix; Skyline College; Ohlone College; Opportunities Industrialization Center West; Adecco; and Gruber and Pereira Associates.

The program will further expand the award winning bio-manufacturing training partnership underway by Skyline College, Genentech, and the San Mateo County WIB to train more entry-level biotech manufacturing workers.

This program will take laid-off workers from the aerospace, airline, and IT industries and retrain them for biotechnology positions including quality control and product engineering. Another partner in this program

Opportunities Industrial Centers West, will support this effort by providing remediation skills in English, math, and employment readiness. The project is expected to:

• Prepare up to 150 individuals for entry-level, pathway positions as biotech manufacturing technicians at wages of $35,000 - $40,000 per year;
• Retrain 40 dislocated engineers from the airline, aerospace, and IT sectors for career pathway positions in facilities management, quality control, and product engineering at wages of $50,000 - $80,000 per year.