Group effort: Education, industry, and the public and private sectors are collaborating to grow Pitt County, where urban and rural residents feel their successes.

• Author: Blake, Kathy
• Position: SPONSORED SECTION: REGIONAL REPORT: PITT COUNTY

Jack Pender's two-day, hands-on laboratory class wasn't for students in Greenville-based East Carolina University's chemistry department, where he's director of pharmaceutical training and laboratory services. Instead, he designed the on-campus instruction for employees of Australia-based drugmaker Mayne Pharma Group Ltd., which has a commercial office in Raleigh and factory in Greenville.

The class covered several topics, including highperformance liquid chromatography. Mayne uses the technique, which identifies and quantifies a substance's ingredients, at its development and analytical testing center in Greenville. "The class was requested by Mayne and administered through the customized training program at Pitt Community College," Pender says. "ECU has offered or coordinated several short courses on relevant topics for working pharmaceutical professionals to better understand the 'why' behind the work they do daily."

ECU and Winterville-based Pitt Community College's training efforts are one collaboration that is boosting Pitt County. Industry, higher education, local government and the private sector are connecting on others. They are improving the economy by developing economic, transportation, housing and health care assets. While most of those are happening in Pitt's county seat--Greenville--their effects are felt countywide.

Todd Edwards lives in Farmville, about 10 miles west of Greenville. He owns a local construction company and is one of four volunteers behind The Farmville Group, which helps with economic development. He says Pitt County's amenities and diversity create a culture in a place that is worth visiting and exploring. "The Coastal Plain of South Carolina is not that different from North Carolina. They branded themselves as the Lowcountry, and we've been drive-through flatland to get to the beach. But we have our barbecue and arts and our own little twist of eastern [North Carolina] culture, and together we're creating an identity. Folks are working hard, finding reasons to shine, and it's working. It's changing rapidly, for the good. The cranes are the most visible part, but it extends beyond downtown Greenville. You're seeing a renaissance."

Cary-based Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina Inc. says the state is home to more than 600 pharmaceutical and life-sciences companies, 31% more than in 2001. Pitt County, whose economy was once almost entirely agrarian, has welcomed this industry. Mayne joins several pharmaceutical companies, including Waltham, Mass.-based Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. In August it acquired Netherlands-based drug-ingredients provider Patheon NV and its Greenville factory in a $7.2 billion deal. "ECU's Pharmaceutical Development Center has already quadrupled its throughput of specialized pharmaceutical chemistry training to increase the number of personnel qualified to hire at multiple pharmaceutical companies in the region," says Allison Danell, associate professor and director of undergraduate studies in ECU's chemistry department. "Undergraduate and graduate students are engaging in financially supported research projects in the Pharmaceutical Development Center laboratories to advance research at ECU and with industry partners. We believe these students' engagement is being translated directly to their decisions to enter STEM-focused careers in the near future."

ECU's Good Manufacturing Practices for Analytical Chemists class prepares seniors and graduate students for careers in the pharmaceutical industry. "Graduates of the GMP class are highly prized by the region's pharmaceutical companies and often have employment offers before graduation," Pender says. "We have helped place graduates from Wilson to Wilmington. Even better, volunteers from these companies assist...