I've heard for years that one of the things holding back Augusta's biotech industry growth is the lack of a technician workforce.
Augusta got a money splash to help address that: $400,000 for Work Ready certification.
The brain trust behind it is still trying to determine where exactly the money will go, said Lisa Palmer, interim vice president for economic development at Augusta Technical College. But it is creating a buzz among a team that's trying to get more biotech companies - and their jobs - in the Augusta region.
Augusta Tech already does a lot of Work Ready testing, but this money is supposed to help offset more of it.
It isn't just about breeding more people in lab coats, it is also about certifying the ones we've got.
So when the brain trust behind this latest push on biotech gets a prospect in town, there's numbers of ready-to-go workers to put on the table, not an anecdotal "we got you covered."
The budget for this $400,000 and the specific number of trained people is still being hammered out with the state, Palmer said.
"We're trying to advance bioscience, so we may use some money to buy equipment for a high school for their lab," she said. There are other examples they haven't gotten to yet.
The brain trust? Well, two of them are Julian Osbon, who has run a couple of medical companies in Augusta over the decades, and Annie Hunt Burriss, special assistant to the president of the Medical College of Georgia.
Osbon thinks the program will generate 10,000 Work Ready certificates by the time September 2011 rolls around. Consider that this is over a six-county area.
"If we're successful, we'll have biotech companies wanting to come to Augusta, not having to recruit them," he said.
There are some offshoots to the money. There is a desire to have a database filled with all these existing companies, many have only a handful of workers.
"You think you could go to the yellow pages and get all that, but it isn't that simple," Osbon said.
Knowing everyone helps establish collaboration of efforts.
Until then, there are more meetings planned to set budgets, create an industry group, host conferences. This is, after all, the first rung of the ladder.
AN EMAIL BLAST: Midtown Market has been sold to Mischelle Gutherie, the owner of Ready To Wear Again. No changes in operation are planned. First Thursday will go on each month.
BREAKING GROUND: SRP Federal Credit Union will turn the ceremonial dirt at 127 Davis Road on May 7.
The credit union is building a $2 million branch there. It is a relocation of the one that it in the nearby Kmart shopping center.
Remarks will begin at 11a.m. for anyone interesting in attending.
WHEN BUSINESS MEETS SPORTS: E-Z-Go's consumer-direct e-commerce site, shopezgo.com, will sponsor the No. 2 Chevrolet Silverado owned by Kevin Harvick Inc. in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 on Sunday.
The race will mark the second time this season that shopezgo.com has been the presenting sponsor of the truck.
Shopezgo.com is Augusta-based E-Z-Go's parts and accessories Internet sales place.
Augusta got a money splash to help address that: $400,000 for Work Ready certification.
The brain trust behind it is still trying to determine where exactly the money will go, said Lisa Palmer, interim vice president for economic development at Augusta Technical College. But it is creating a buzz among a team that's trying to get more biotech companies - and their jobs - in the Augusta region.
Augusta Tech already does a lot of Work Ready testing, but this money is supposed to help offset more of it.
It isn't just about breeding more people in lab coats, it is also about certifying the ones we've got.
So when the brain trust behind this latest push on biotech gets a prospect in town, there's numbers of ready-to-go workers to put on the table, not an anecdotal "we got you covered."
The budget for this $400,000 and the specific number of trained people is still being hammered out with the state, Palmer said.
"We're trying to advance bioscience, so we may use some money to buy equipment for a high school for their lab," she said. There are other examples they haven't gotten to yet.
The brain trust? Well, two of them are Julian Osbon, who has run a couple of medical companies in Augusta over the decades, and Annie Hunt Burriss, special assistant to the president of the Medical College of Georgia.
Osbon thinks the program will generate 10,000 Work Ready certificates by the time September 2011 rolls around. Consider that this is over a six-county area.
"If we're successful, we'll have biotech companies wanting to come to Augusta, not having to recruit them," he said.
There are some offshoots to the money. There is a desire to have a database filled with all these existing companies, many have only a handful of workers.
"You think you could go to the yellow pages and get all that, but it isn't that simple," Osbon said.
Knowing everyone helps establish collaboration of efforts.
Until then, there are more meetings planned to set budgets, create an industry group, host conferences. This is, after all, the first rung of the ladder.
AN EMAIL BLAST: Midtown Market has been sold to Mischelle Gutherie, the owner of Ready To Wear Again. No changes in operation are planned. First Thursday will go on each month.
BREAKING GROUND: SRP Federal Credit Union will turn the ceremonial dirt at 127 Davis Road on May 7.
The credit union is building a $2 million branch there. It is a relocation of the one that it in the nearby Kmart shopping center.
Remarks will begin at 11a.m. for anyone interesting in attending.
WHEN BUSINESS MEETS SPORTS: E-Z-Go's consumer-direct e-commerce site, shopezgo.com, will sponsor the No. 2 Chevrolet Silverado owned by Kevin Harvick Inc. in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 on Sunday.
The race will mark the second time this season that shopezgo.com has been the presenting sponsor of the truck.
Shopezgo.com is Augusta-based E-Z-Go's parts and accessories Internet sales place.
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