By Karen Ventii, Ph.D.
The Southeastern United States has long been recognized for producing talented scientists and technicians. But are too many of them leaving the Southeast to find jobs?
The area, which encompasses about seven states, is also becoming known as one of the fastest growing regions for life sciences and biotech industries.
Still, it is evident that the industry is not yet large enough to support the job needs of the growing number of talented graduates (such as specialized laboratory technicians and Ph.D., M.D. and MPH-holders) who want to stay in the region after graduating.
The idea that so many young scientists and technicians tend to emigrate to other parts of the country after getting their education in the Southeast is being referred to by some as the Brain Drain.
It appears that the industry is aware of this Brain Drain and new programs and initiatives are being implemented to address it.
The states of Georgia, North Carolina and Florida are representative Southeastern states and the problems they face-and solutions they create-are likely to reflect on other neighboring states.
Georgia
According to the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, the number of postsecondary educational institutions in Georgia is higher than the national average and in 2005 the state produced 1,225 Ph.D. graduates.
Unfortunately, Georgia’s growing biotech industry, which is made up of approximately 250 companies, does not produce enough jobs to retain the majority of them.
According to Katharine G Caesar Montgomery MSc MBA, Manager for Industrial Relations and Technology Transfer, Georgia Tech/Emory Center for the Engineering of Living Tissues Parker H Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, the Brain Drain on the biotech industry occurs primarily because of a combination of lack of jobs for students and an inability to connect students with open jobs.
These sentiments are echoed by Sebastien Henry, Research & Development Director at Porex Surgical Inc., a biomedical device company based in Newnan GA. Mr. Henry, having himself been educated in Georgia, personally knows the struggle to remain and work in the local biotech industry.
For months after graduating from Georgia Tech with a degree in bioengineering, he was encouraged by career advisers to leave the state, as Atlanta did not have great job prospects in his field. Finally, through concerted networking efforts on his part within Georgia Bio (and it’s young professional arm called the Emerging Leader’s Network), a private, non-profit organization that promotes the interests of Georgia’s biotech industry, he landed his current position at Porex Surgical and now makes an effort to support local graduates by recruiting from area schools.
Interestingly, what may be a problem for science and technology graduates who want to remain in Georgia may actually be an advantage for members of the local life sciences industry.
According to a study published in the Georgia Life Sciences Industry Analysis 2007 called ‘Shaping Infinity’, produced by the University of Georgia’s Selig Center for Economic Growth in the Terry College of Business, the availability of skilled researchers is considered one of Georgia’s strong points and is a factor that is sure to attract more life sciences and biotech companies to the area.
North Carolina
Like Georgia, the state of North Carolina generates more Ph.D. graduates (about 1,355 in 2005, according to the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics) than the biotech job market is likely to support.
According to Robert A. Lindberg, Ph.D., RAC, Director Business Acceleration and Technology Out-licensing Network (BATON), North Carolina Biotechnology Center, about 30% of these graduates pursue academic careers while the remaining 70% choose the life sciences or biotech industry.
“For the latter group, there is the added complication of competing with M.D/Ph.D. graduates for jobs in the life sciences industry,” says Dr. Lindberg.
He also points out that the Southeast is not the only part of the country experiencing a Brain Drain-the Midwest is going through the same thing. After obtaining his Ph.D. in Kentucky, he left to find employment elsewhere.
However, he knows from personal experience that it is possible to find employment in the Southeast’s burgeoning biotech industry and these days, he spends part of his time developing ways to help Ph.D.’s in North Carolina transition smoothly into biotech industry jobs.
According to the North Carolina Community College System BioNetwork, the biotechnology industry in the state is growing 10-15% per year and, at this rate, should create 125,000 jobs by 2025 with revenues approaching $24 billion.
Florida
Florida is hoping to fuel the need for graduates through efforts to boost the number of life sciences and biotech companies in the state. In recent years, the Florida Legislature set up the Innovation Incentive Fund in an effort to recruit more biotech companies to the area and diversify the state’s economy.
According to Enterprise Florida, this initiative would help the state’s economy by creating over 300 new jobs paying a salary of at least $62,000.
Doug Saenz, Business Outreach Manager for Workforce Alliance in Palm Beach County, explained that as a result of this initiative, several internationally recognized institutions have received funds to build institutes in the state including the Scripps Research Institute, the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, the Stanford Research Institute, the Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies, the Max Planck Society in Germany and the Oregon Health & Science University.
Florida universities have also received financial help to support the commercialization of research being done in the public universities.
Florida Atlantic University will soon house the Florida Institute for Commercialization of Public Research; and the University of Miami Institute of Human Genomics recently received $80 million from the Innovation Incentive Fund.
Kenneth Chung, a recent Florida graduate, is a good example of this. Kenneth was torn between returning west (where he grew up) and remaining in the southeast (where he attended graduate school).
“I grew up near Silicon Valley and people often ask me why I left California for a small Southeastern city like Gainesville. It is because the University of Florida has a strong biomaterials program, which is what I was interested in studying.”
Upon completion of his Master’s degree, Kenneth discovered that several local biotech companies were interested in commercializing his research and soon found himself involved in a small startup company called SharkletTM Technologies, LLC.
“The University of Florida has a very streamlined research commercialization process,” he said. “One advantage for startups located in the Southeast is that there is a deep connection with the local academic scene.”
Kenneth is now Director of Research & Development and Manufacturing at Sharklet. The company is still closely connected to the University of Florida and continues to collaborate with university researchers.
What next?
It is evident that the life science industries in Georgia, North Carolina and Florida are still quite young and home-grown and, as a result, labor force issues are expected to have significant effects on growth. These problems are likely to reflect similar situations in other Southeastern states.
All three states appear to be making significant efforts to grow their life science industries in ways that are sure to retain and attract more high-level graduates and technicians back into the area.
Companies like Southeast BIO have become part of this solution by helping to educate people about available opportunities in the Southeast. Southeast BIO does this through plain old networking events and by listing regional life sciences jobs on their online job board.
According to Sebastien Henry, there is hope. “More and more life sciences and biotech companies are finding that, in addition to the availability of skilled researchers, the geographic location of the Southeast makes it strategically poised for access to key regions in the Americas and elsewhere,” he says.
The Southeast is still recognized as one of the fastest growing science and technology regions in the U.S. and it is expected that as the industry grows, so will the availability of jobs for the numerous young professionals who help drive its development.
About the author:
Karen Ventii, Ph.D. is a freelance medical writer/editor based in Atlanta, GA.
Contact information: kventii@gmail.com
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