Johnston County grows a new crop of industries: workforce and low costs bring pharmaceutical and life-science companies.

• Position: JOHNSTON COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION

With more working farms than any other county in North Carolina, Johnston County is proud of its deep agricultural roots. But what many people outside of it may not know is that Johnston County has aggressively cultivated pharmaceutical manufacturing and life-science industries. Today, Johnston County is home to Grifols Inc., Novo Nordisk, Hospira Inc., Bayer Environmental Science and a host of pharmaceutical support companies such as Becton Dickinson and Co. and Natvar.

Grifols pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Clayton employs 1,650 and is one of the worlds largest integrated plasma factories. The plant maximizes operational efficiencies by utilizing expanded fractionation and purification capacity when and where it is available. Less than a mile down the road, Novo Nordisk, with more than 500 employees, operates one of the few insulin factories in the U.S.

In order to continue fostering these industries, Johnston County elected officials and community and business leaders responded proactively to their workforce needs. Johnston County leadership, Johnston County Economic Development Advisory Board and Johnston Community College, as well as local biopharmaceutical companies, came together to create Research Training Zone in 2003. Modeled after Research Triangle Park, RTZ is a tax district where most of the pharmaceutical companies in the county reside.

Funds collected from RTZ companies fund the Johnston County Workforce Development Center. Located on Best Wood Drive in Clayton, the 30,000-square-foot state-of-the-art educational and technical skills training center focuses on life-sciences programming, business training and workforce development in biotechnology and other sciences. The first of its type in the state, it supports local industries by offering elementary through post-secondary students learning opportunities in science, biotech and other industries in the county's economy. "Addressing the workforce needs of all of our industries and small businesses is essential," says Jeff Carver, Johnston County commissioner. "Within Johnston County there are major biomanufacturing and pharmaceutical industries--Grifols, Novo Nordisk and Hospira, just to name a few. With the assistance of the Johnston County Community College, the Johnston County School System and funding from the RTZ, it was everyone's goal to meet the needs of our pharmaceutical partners and prepare tomorrow's workforce in the biotechnology field."

Life science...