Dallas College will use an $8.8 million grant to lead a workforce development program to train underrepresented populations for the growing biotechnology field in North Texas.
The grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration “is a huge deal for North Texas to really put us on the map in the biotech space,” said Dallas College Chancellor Justin Lonon. His comments came during a news conference Thursday afternoon at BioLabs, a 37,000-square-foot co-working space at Pegasus Park, the new hub for upstart biotech companies.
As part of the grant application process, major employers in the biotech life sciences space in North Texas were surveyed.
“They said, ‘Look we have jobs to fill,’” said Tom Luce, CEO of biotech initiatives at Lyda Hill Philanthropies, which partnered with J. Small Investments on the Pegasus Park redevelopment.
Dallas College, which is Texas’ largest community college based on enrollment, started to work on the application for the grant in September, said Ben Magill, associate vice chancellor of economic opportunity at Dallas College. He was in charge of putting the application together.
“The [Economic Development Administration] was looking for something regional,” Magill said. “They wanted to bring regions together. People don’t pay attention to city lines anymore and neither do companies.”
Dallas College has many partners in the initiative. Collin College, Tarrant County College and the University of Texas at Arlington will offer an introductory boot camp to train 800 workers for entry-level biotech jobs.
And seven major health care employers have agreed to hire a combined 1,100 entry-level workers for positions like clinical lab techs and pharmaceutical manufacturing operators. The positions must pay at least $15 an hour and provide health care and retirement benefits. The companies that made the commitment include: Children’s Health Medical Center, McKesson, Medical City-HCA Healthcare, Tenet Health, Texas Health Resources, Evolve Biologics and UT Southwestern Medical Center.
While $15 may seem low, once a worker enters the biotech space, there are opportunities to grow into higher-paying positions, Magill said.
“The underserved communities were the hardest hit by the pandemic,” he said. “And this is a way to get those folks who are in retail jobs and other jobs more susceptible to economic shock into a stable job with upper mobility.”
The initiative, called “Grow the Biotech Workforce in North Texas To Meet Emerging Skill Needs via a Collaborative Partnership,” will also link up with DFW Hospital Council, Bio North Texas and the Dallas Regional Chamber to find additional employment partners in health care and IT.
In year one of using the grant, Dallas College plans to find existing education gaps, work on building a curriculum and program design, recruit historically underserved populations and implement training programs.
This is the latest push for North Texas to become a large hub for biotechnology. The 23-acre Pegasus Park near the Design District was redeveloped into a home for biotech firms and nonprofit innovation. Last month, Dallas-Fort Worth entered the nation’s top 20 metros for life sciences companies for the first time, ranking 16th, according to an analysis by CommercialEdge.
D-FW is expected to add over 200,000 jobs in the next three years, with health care and health care support occupations seeing the most growth at about 8% or more, Magill said.
“This award will help us establish the critical economic and workforce development infrastructure needed to fill those jobs,” he said.
