FORT COLLINS - Two Northern Colorado economic development goals recently received a boost via grants awarded to the Rocky Mountain Regional Center of Excellence and Front Range Community College.

The institutions both received Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development, or WIRED, grants for workforce development in the bioscience field. The U.S. Department of Labor created the initiative in November 2005 with the goal of bringing together government, academic institutions, investment groups, foundations and business and industry to address regional workforce issues.

The Denver Metro WIRED initiative, which includes the seven-county Denver region and two-county Northern Colorado region, kicked off in 2006 with a four-year, $15 million grant from the DOL.

Northern Colorado's bioscience industry is gaining momentum, and the new grants are adding fuel to that fire.

"We have everything right here in Northern Colorado to bring a product to market," said Deanna Scott, quality control manager for the Product Development and Manufacturing Core at the Rocky Mountain Regional Center of Excellence.

The Rocky Mountain Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research opened just last year on Colorado State University's Foothills campus. The center of excellence actually encompasses 18 institutions in the Rocky Mountain region.



Bring products to market

Using a $100,000 WIRED grant, Scott plans to launch a regional training center to provide researchers and scientists with the business knowledge they need to bring a product to market.

During the one-year grant period, Scott will organize around three courses, each progressing through a different stage in the commercialization process, with about 100 participants. The first will focus on the regulatory process, followed by an animal studies/pre-clinical expert panel and a course surrounding a specific topic in commercialization. Attendees will receive certificates of completion and have an opportunity to interview with one of the program's industry partners.

"There's been a big gap, not just in Fort Collins, but in all of Colorado," she said. "The industry has complained that students have great scientific knowledge but not any on the business side."

Industry partners are a key element of the WIRED grant program. With the help of the Larimer County Bioscience Initiative and the Colorado Bioscience Association, Scott tapped Amgen Corp., AlloSource, Inviragen and Kelly Scientific Research as partners.

"So many companies are coming to the table with whatever we've needed," Scott said. However, the program is still in need of equipment for the lab.

In addition to the obvious benefits of educational enrichment and career advancement, Scott anticipates the advantage of bringing together industry and researchers. The courses will become a networking forum where the two sides will be able to learn more about each other's work.

Scott said the program is ever-evolving, with an advisory board of industry and educational representatives steering the focus based on needs. The grant will get them through the first year and will be able to continue of its own accord.

"We should be sustained through the tuition we collect this year," she said.



WIRED partnerships

The WIRED grant is really about creating partnerships. The second, and larger, grant awarded will not only provide a needed service to the bioscience industry, but also expand on the partnership between two of the area's educational institutions.

FRCC's relationship with CSU dates back to the mid-1990s, when the community college began its vet tech program. Phyllis Abt, associate vice president for outreach and strategic partnerships at FRCC, said that CSU offered use of its veterinary teaching hospital to allow students to get hands-on experience in a clinical setting. In the early days, the program included a lab animal element.

"It was the first of a win/win partnership," she said. "Over time, the lab animal part of the program got pushed aside and there was more of a focus on the vet tech part, but CSU's needs didn't change."

Mardie Altman, instructor at Front Range, has taught the animal technology and research course for high school students for the past nine years. But this year, thanks to the $250,000 WIRED grant, she's taking on another challenge.

Starting this fall, FRCC will offer training for laboratory research certifications. Altman will be charged with overseeing those training sessions, as well as developing the courses for a laboratory animal technology associate's degree that could begin in the spring semester.

The certificate program will be a unique opportunity not only for the region, but also for the state. Through a planned online element, the program is likely to attract participants throughout Colorado.

"There are a few other programs in the country but not many," Altman explained. FRCC was able to review the curriculum in those programs - mostly located on the coasts - while developing its own.

Altman explained that the goal of the new programs will be to produce entry-level laboratory employees that are skilled and then provide an avenue for advancement to those employed in the field.

"Using animals in research is not going away," Altman said. "There are high standards that have to be maintained, so there is a demand for these trained people."

As with the RMRC certificate program, FRCC is teaming with industry partners in order to place students in internships and allow classes to get first-hand knowledge of the inner workings of the industry.



Challenges for training

The challenge for companies, universities and other research institutions is finding the time to train and the commitment from employees to seek out additional training.

The American Association for Laboratory Animal Science offers three levels of lab technician certification. Each requires a combination of work experience, education and a testing element. The certifications, in order of expertise, are assistant laboratory animal technician (ALAT), laboratory animal technician (LAT) and laboratory animal technologist (LATG).

The FRCC courses would provide preparation for the certification testing.

Even though the certificate and associate's degree programs are in the early stages of development, Altman and others are already focusing on how it could expand into the future.

"Ultimately, we'd love to see a bachelor's degree offered (through CSU)," she said.

CSU, its labs and the James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital have much to gain from the FRCC program.

"We have fairly high turnover of animal caretakers," said Lynne Kesel, clinical veterinarian for Lab Animal Resources and professor in the Department of Animal Science at CSU. "In a given year, we'll replace half of them."

The lab at CSU can spend several weeks training new employees on just the basic skills needed. Kesel sees that lab could benefit from these programs, and also has a vision as to how it could benefit the students as well.

"I have a unique point of view," she said. For a time, she's been the only veterinarian on the staff of the animal science department. Kesel said that her work in Lab Animal Resources has exposed her to the need for programs like the one in development at FRCC.



Bridge between departments

Kesel would like to see a bridge between the lab and the animal sciences department. CSU's animal sciences department has a long, strong history in livestock production and agriculture. Kesel has been teaching animal science courses in basic research surgery and field necropsy for several years. She would like to see additional options for students, especially when considering what careers are in demand.

"In the ultimate sense, we want to develop a degree in animal science with a concentration on lab animal technology," she said, because are no such courses now.

Kesel has been assisting FRCC in the development of its lab animal technology course. The hope is that students who receive the associate's degree will be able to transfer all of their credits to the animal science program at CSU.

The new programs are a boon for Northern Colorado's bioscience industry. They address very specific action items in Larimer County's strategic plan.

"The grants are right, smack dab in the middle of bioscience strategy three," said Kathy Kregel, director of Larimer County Bioscience Cluster. The third strategy in Larimer County's bioscience plan focuses on addressing workforce needs. With the WIRED grant, most of the tactics to complete strategy three will be on track.

"(These programs) are really very distinct and clearly called out in the plan," Kregel said. "The group did a good job, and it took a group to get it done."

Both programs submitted for grants during the last round of Workforce Innovation grants, but certain collaboration elements were missing. This round took a greater coordination between education, industry, researcher and even the Larimer County Workforce Center, which will provide data tracking the success of the programs.

Kregel said that there is not a dire shortage in the region's bioscience workforce today. However, if the local companies grow at the rates they reported in a survey conducted last summer, a shortage could be just around the corner.

"It could have been a definite problem in the next three years," she said.