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8 Faces of Success at the annual BIO Convention
Representatives of the NCBW addressed numerous conferences and meetings across the nation, including

at annual meetings of the League of Innovation in the Community College and at the American Associa-

tion of Community Colleges. One important annual link with industry is the Community College Program (CCP)

held during the annual conventions of the worldwide Biotechnology Industry Organization known as “BIO.” The

Faces of Success panel is always popular - it features current or former students from community college biosci-

ence programs across the nation who work in the industry. Two of these students were graduates of NCBW Cen-

ters: Jim Crawford, a of Forsyth Tech, and Katrice Jalbert from NHCTC.
One of the 2005-2007 Biomanufacturing Apprentices, Katrice Jalbert finished
Katrice Jalbert more than a thousand hours of on-the-job training in biomanufacturing and

graduated with a Biotechnology Associate in Science degree from NHCTC in May
2007. She spoke about her experiences working at Lonza Biologics, Inc. in Ports-
mouth as part of her Biomanufacturing Apprenticeship. “I saw it all from the bottom

up; they rotated me through different positions. I worked a 7-to-7 shift in the summer

and had a lot of days off so I could go to the beach. I worked hard, learned a lot and got
paid for it,” she told the crowd.

“What better way to learn about the re-

sults of our Center’s collaborative efforts

than to hear about them from our success-

ful interns, apprentices, graduates - the
employees themselves?” said Russ Read,
executive director of the National Center
for the Biotechnology Workforce. “We did

outcome studies to follow-up on our gradu-

ates from Forsyth Tech and one key success

factor we found over and over again was

WJim Crawford internship. Students with hands-on experi-

ence are able to jump into jobs ready from
ith an undergraduate degree in day one. Both Katrice and Jim moved right
biology and 20 years in corporate
management, Jim Crawford enrolled in to good jobs with exceptional employers.”

in Forsyth Tech’s biotechnology
program in 2004. He took an unpaid
internship at Anthony Atala’s lab at
the Wake Forest Institute for Regen-
erative Medicine in Winston–Salem
and fell in love with the biotech lab
research environment.

“My AAS degree from Forsyth Tech

established ‘employment relevancy’

for my original bachelor’s in biology. It breathed new life into

my previous education. Forsyth Tech’s training is second to

none. Getting a job isn’t just about the ability to do a job. The

biotech field is constantly evolving you have to evolve with it,”
he told CCP attendees at BIO. After the internship, he was
offered a full-time job. His associate’s degree let him start contributing at once. He has since gained promo-
tions and more advancement in the industry. “I was able to walk in and start culturing cells. It’s a big honor and
I owe it to the Forsyth Tech associate’s degree program,” said Crawford.