Tuesday, July 2, 2024

Older News — But Merck Is Funding A Innovation / Career Training Center At NC A&T…


The goal is to mentor younger STEM talent -- preparing them for high paying science-focused biotech manufacturing roles, potentially for careers at the Durham or Wilson facility. . . or at Rahway, itself.

Of course I think it an excellent initiative. It was the now retired Willie Deese, former EVP of Merck Manufacturing, and an A&T grad, that spearheaded the collaboration between Merck and the largest HBCU campus in the nation:

. . .Building the workforce of tomorrow means investing in the students of today. That’s why we’ve partnered with North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (N.C. A&T) — the largest historically Black college and university in the U.S. — to launch the Merck Biotechnology Learning Center.

“We’re pleased to launch this new collaboration with an institution that precisely aligns to our company priorities to invest in the growth and delivery of innovative health solutions and strong values around diversity and inclusion,” said Sanat Chattopadhyay, executive vice president and president, Merck Manufacturing Division. “Together we can fuel the growth of talent for our company and the biotechnology industry overall.”

Located in the home state of our Durham and Wilson manufacturing sites, the 4,025 square-foot facility will enhance academic programming and training for biotechnology careers for N.C. A&T students and provide advanced discovery opportunities through its classroom space, process laboratory and state-of-the-art biopharmaceutical manufacturing equipment. . . .


Onward -- now you know -- doing well, by doing. . . good.

नमस्ते

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is some good news.

When I was an early S/P employee, S/P had an outreach program TAP (technical assistant program) that helped underprivileged individuals get real time training in support of the labs. Had many a friend get full time jobs at S/P after graduation. Eventually, S/P got rid of the program. I think because the focus of the company changed. Many of the trainings were for microbiology support; autoclave, media prep, etc. Not much of that was needed or could be purchased commercially.

condor said...

Excellent input, Anon. -- thank you!

Namaste. . . .