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Remarks
Prepared for Delivery by
U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao
High-Growth Job Training Initiative Grant
Award
Winston-Salem, N.C.
Monday, June 28, 2004
Good afternoon.
I am delighted to be joined this afternoon by Congressman Richard Burr and
Forsyth Technical Community College President Dr. Gary
Green. Congressman Burr first introduced Forsyth to the Labor Department
in 2002. Thank you, Cong. Burr, for your vision for biotechnology jobs.
I am here today to announce a new grant under President George W. Bush's
High-Growth Job Training Initiative. The President's initiative helps workers
build the skills they need for the new jobs being created in high-growth
industries, like biotechnology and health care.
According to private analysts, biotechnology is one of the fastest growing
industries in the country. This $33.6 billion industry has quadrupled in
size since 1992. There are many job and career opportunities in biotechnology.
They include jobs for researchers, technicians, and Ph.D.-holders. And there
are opportunities for non-scientists in functions like marketing and sales.
In fact, experts predict the biotechnology industry will employ 814,000 Americans
by 2007.
Many of these jobs will be in North Carolina. Already the state boasts a
total of 181 biotech companies and 32,000 jobs in the field. And we expect
more than 1,000 biotech jobs to be created each year in North Carolina over
the next two decades.
Today, I am delighted to award $5 million to Forsyth Technical Community
College, in partnership with four other community colleges around the country.
This grant will be used to develop a National Center for the Biotechnology
Workforce.
I can't think of a better institution to lead this effort than Forsyth.
Forsyth has already shown foresight in preparing workers for careers in
biotechnology. Under an earlier grant from the Labor Department, Forsyth
is training former textile and tobacco workers for biotech careers. Forsyth
is working with fellow educators like the Wake Forest University School
of Medicine, Idealliance, the Piedmont Triangle Research Park, and the North
Carolina Biotechnology Center, as well as with local employers like Targacept
and Kucera.
Under today's grant, Forsyth will work with New Hampshire Community and
Technical College, Indian Hills Community and Technical College in Iowa,
Bellevue Community College in Washington state, and MiraCosta Community College
in California. Together, these colleges will implement a national system
to support biotech workforce development. Their efforts will include regional
program and faculty development, as well as developing national industry
training standards for the different fields within biotechnology. This program
will be a model for other institutions throughout the country.
And it will benefit the local community and surrounding areas. North Carolina's
unemployment rate of 5.3 percent is lower than the national average. But
it's still higher than President George W. Bush and I want it to be. That's
why this grant is so important. It's why President Bush visited Forsyth just
this past November. And it's why the Department of Labor has already given
North Carolina more than $288 million to assist workers over the last year.
President Bush and I will not be satisfied until every North Carolinian who
wants a job can find one. And so I encourage anyone in the area looking for
a job or job training to go to one of North Carolina's 70 Job Link Centers.
They can help you with your job search needs beyond the scope of today's
grant.
This grant is part of the $17.2 million the Labor Department is awarding
to innovative biotechnology training programs throughout the country. In
the coming months, the Department will award additional grants to train workers
for jobs in other vital, high-growth sectors.
Now, I'd like to present this check for $5 million to Dr. Green, who is
leading this effort with his other community college partners.
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