An innovative collaboration between a Swiss multinational biotech manufacturing company and a local educational institution is already seeing early success: Lonza’s partnership with Alvin Community College (ACC) is a prime example of how industry and universities can work together to meet growing talent demands and advance the future of biotech in the Houston region.
Lonza Establishes Office in Pearland
In 2018, Lonza opened a 300,000-square-foot life sciences facility in Pearland to specialize in cell and gene therapy manufacturing. The company has seen great success since then and recently expanded its Houston base, adding an additional 15,000 square feet of lab space. This growth created a need for more skilled workers to fill the facility’s entry-level positions. While Houston boasts a diverse and well-educated talent pool, Lonza recognized a skills gap during its recruiting process. Qualified candidates with bachelor’s degrees lacked the basic hands-on skills needed to complete onboarding. So the company partnered with local education partner, ACC.
Houston’s Biotech Industry
Biotechnology is the field that uses organisms, cells and living systems to develop products and technologies that improve the quality of life and the health of the planet. In Houston, home to the renowned Texas Medical Center, biotechnology is essential to advances in healthcare, diagnostics and pharmaceuticals.
According to an ACC news release, the region is expected to see 18 percent job growth over the next decade, with one-third of those jobs being in pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing.
Lonza and ACC Partnership
Last fall, ACC launched a new biotech program to directly train entry-level technicians for Lonza. ACC worked closely with Lonza to develop a curriculum for two six-week courses that equip students with basic biotech safety procedures, such as donning and doffing a gown in a clean room and using a biosafety cabinet. The program is targeted at high school graduates and career-changing professionals, offering certification as a biotech material handler or biotech core technician. Since its launch, the program has produced 12 graduates, one of whom has been directly employed by Lonza, ACC told the Partnership.
“ACC’s biotechnology program was very affordable. [and] “It was very quick,” Crystal Aguilar, a graduate of the ACC biotechnology program and a core technician I at Lonza, said in a testimony video. “They showed me how to use the equipment: the pipette aids, the serological pipettes, how to transfer cells. [and] I learned how to do the job. There was training when I joined Lonza, and it made me feel very familiar and confident in what I was doing. I completed the training in half the time it took my colleagues who had attended four-year universities, but it took much longer.”
Following its first cohort, Lonza eliminated the bachelor’s degree requirement for candidates, allowing individuals with certifications and entry-level skills to be considered. Additionally, ACC extended the program from 12 to 15 weeks to ensure career readiness by adding interview preparation sessions, virtual reality training, and more time for students to practice putting on and taking off their gowns.
“Our goal is to not only create customized training that meets immediate workforce needs, but also create stackable pathways for students to continue to advance their skills and careers. [possibilities]”We’re excited to be working with ACC to bring these new capabilities to the lab,” said Stacey Ebert, vice president of workforce and strategic initiatives at ACC, during the “Skilling Partnerships: Life Sciences Forum.”
ACC’s Initiatives to Promote Careers in Biotechnology
To further enhance the program’s capabilities, the Texas-New Mexico Power Fund provided an $8,000 grant to purchase a biosafety cabinet for the Biotechnology Training Certificate course. The cabinet will allow students to become familiar with the equipment they will use in the workplace. Additionally, ACC signed a five-year lease for a 14,500-square-foot facility in Manvel that will house a new biotechnology lab and provide space for students to engage in hands-on learning.
The new facility highlights ACC’s commitment to providing a variety of training and certification programs tailored to area employers and supporting the region’s workforce needs.
Learn more about Houston’s growing biotech industry and the partnership’s Upskill Houston initiative.
