Hennepin Technical College was awarded more than $2.6 million in federal grant money to train workers in biotech manufacturing. The Brooklyn Park college said it will train about 350 workers starting in late August to prepare for manufacturing jobs in fields such as medical devices, biologics, biopharma and renewable materials.
"We're developing [a] workforce for these new jobs that will be created," said Katherine Sellner, the college's director of health sciences and biomanufacturing in an interview Tuesday. Companies "are limited by what they can develop by the workforce available," she added.
Analysts said they believe the grant will help Minnesota become more attractive for biotech companies to move here as they look for an advanced workforce to match their technologies.
"The most important asset, period, of any new industry is the trained and skilled workforce," said Dale Wahlstrom, CEO of the BioBusiness Alliance of Minnesota. Other analysts said the grant will be effective in giving unemployed workers in the manufacturing sector new sets of skills to help them land jobs.
The money given to Hennepin Technical College was part of $125 million worth of community-based job training grants given to 41 community colleges and organizations by the U.S. Department of Labor. These grants were given to help community colleges train workers in high-growth and other emerging industries.
WENDY LEE
