Utah State University President Elizabeth Cantwell addresses a press conference on Nov. 20 in support of a life sciences initiative being proposed by Gov. Spencer Cox (Image courtesy of BioMerieux via Facebook).
SALT LAKE CITY – Lost amid the excitement leading up the Thanksgiving holiday, the state of Utah proposed to launch a $7 million initiative to build a bigger, better life sciences workforce on Nov. 20.
Joined by Presidents Taylor Randall of the University of Utah and Elizabeth Cantwell of Utah State University, Gov. Spencer Cox announced that initiative during a visit to BioMérieux, a world leader in the field of in vitro diagnostics in Salt Lake City.
“Currently,” Cox remarked, “(our higher education) institutions are utilizing their base-budgets to operate life science programs. These funds are not enough to allow for expansion or creation of new programs that industry desperately needs to keep up with workforce demands.”
Utah is now home to some 1,600 private firms associated with life sciences and the Department of Workforce Services estimates that industry will grow by 33 percent over the next decade.
Utah’s life science industry develops, manufactures and distributes pharmaceuticals and medical devices that make modern healthcare possible, generating $9.6 billion in annual sales.
International life sciences companies such as BioFire, Merit Medical and Myriad Genetics began in Utah.
Other international firms – like BioMérieux, which has roots that stretch back a century to the development of the first anti-tetanus serum – have established branches in Utah to take advantage of the state’s thriving workforce.
Although there are many disciplines associated with the life sciences industry, the proposed Utah initiative would mostly focus on microbiology, biotechnology, genetics and biochemistry.
Cox has requested $7 million to fund workforce growth in life sciences from the Utah Legislature.
That request is being supported by Sen. Ann Millner (R-Ogden), the Senate’s majority whip and former president of Weber State University.
Millner said the proposed Higher Education initiative was the perfect compliment to similar efforts that are already underway in Utah elementary and high schools.
“We have to graduate students who not only move into the (life sciences) workforce, but become its leaders,” Cantwell agreed, saying that creating an innovative ecosystem here will benefit not just Utah but the entire nation.
The life sciences initiative would be administered by the Utah System of Higher Education, according to the governor’s staff. Those funds will be distributed through a competitive grant process to address demonstrated life science industry needs.
They added that the requested state funds could also be used to hire faculty and purchase equipment for new life sciences programs.