Building a Bioscience Workforce: The Southeast Versus the Vanguard States

The biotechnology industry is extraordinarily concentrated: five states account for nearly half of all biotechnology firms. California accounts for almost a quarter of all firms while Massachusetts accounts for just over one-tenth of all firms. Viewing the biotechnology industry as a leading sector for creating high-quality growth, many states have initiated public policies aimed at growing the industry at home and capturing a greater share of the national pie. In a comparative analysis with these two vanguard states, we examine public strategies initiated during the last two decades to promote the development of the biotech industry in three states in the Southeast: Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. Biotechnicians represent the largest number of workers in this industry, hold the greatest promise for geographic diffusion throughout the Southeast, and constitute a largely unexamined sector. The extent to which workforce-training strategies are successful typically depends on clustering and network building with industry leaders.