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Vance-Granville Community College is poised to expand its Biotechnology workforce training and play a leading role in preparing talented students for one of the state’s growing industries, following the announcement that the college will receive approximately $1.75 million as part of a federal grant.

VGCC is included in a statewide consortium of colleges, universities, and other strategic partners like the NC Biotechnology Center and the NC Community College System’s BioNetwork, which collectively received a grant award totaling nearly $25 million from the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Build Back Better Regional Challenge.

VGCC is one of ten community colleges participating in the “NC BioBetter” Project funded by the grant.

Stewart Lyon, VGCC’s program head for Bioprocess/Biotechnology, expressed his excitement about what the grant will mean for his program and his students.

“About half of this grant will allow VGCC to purchase new biotech laboratory equipment and additional lab supplies, so that students can get the up-to-date training they need,” Lyon explained. “We will be able to replace some older equipment in our existing biotech lab on our Franklin County Campus and expand into a new space on the campus for a second biotech lab. We may be able to expand our program to include daytime and evening offerings.”

Lyon noted that this project is designed to increase the number of North Carolinians who are trained and ready to fill positions in the biopharmaceutical industry workforce, with a specific intent to expand opportunity to under-represented populations in that field, including women and people of color. “This is a significant focus, but everyone enrolled in the program will equally benefit from the resources of the grant, including the faculty and staff it provides,” he said.

Anyone interested in becoming a biotechnology student is invited to contact Stewart Lyon at lyons@vgcc.edu or Veta Pierce-Cappetta at piercev@vgcc.edu.