Revolution takes root: Pitt County is building a technology-filled future thanks in part to its agrarian past.

• Position: SPONSORED SECTION: FOCUS ON PITT COUNTY

Farms have stretched to the horizon in eastern North Carolina for centuries. Most farmers here raise hogs or grow soybeans, sweet potatoes and other staples. A few still plant tobacco. Tar Heel farmers planted 193,000 acres of it in 2014, the most in the nation, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But that's less than 25% of tobacco's peak Tar Heel acreage in 1939. Most North Carolina-grown tobacco is smoked in China because demand has dwindled stateside. From 2000 to 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says combustible tobacco use fell 36% nationwide as people avoided its harmful effects on health.

In 1998, cigarette manufacturers paid $200 billion under the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement to end lawsuits claiming harm from their products. Most of that money pays for antismoking programs and health care, but in North Carolina, it also funds a revolution. Rocky Mount-based Golden LEAF Foundation, created by the state legislature in 1999, distributes half of the state's settlement share to revitalize the economies of tobacco-dependent communities, including Pitt County, where the biotechnology industry has taken root. More than 8,000 people are employed in pharmaceutical manufacturing here and in three other eastern North Carolina counties--Johnston, Nash and Wilson. Statewide, life-science companies contributed about half of the new jobs between 2000 and 2012, says Maria Pharr, executive director of the N.C. Community College BioNetwork, which trains workers for all facets of the industry. Biotechnology companies show no signs of slowing down in Pitt County, and efforts are underway to better meet that demand.

In 2014, Golden LEAF gave $1.25 million for the Advanced Manufacturing and Innovation Academy, a regional initiative that introduces middle-school students to careers, including those in biotechnology. It's a collaboration of Pitt County Schools, Winterville-based Pitt Community College, Greenville-based East Carolina University and regional advanced manufacturers. It's unique, because it weaves art and design into a curriculum that's typically technical in its totality. It gives students firsthand looks at careers and in-school and extra-curricular courses and experiences. More than 75 of its teachers will be offered professional-development opportunities. "This innovative approach is all about talent enhancement and retention and has the potential to be an economic-development game changer," says Ted Morris, associate...