Bioworks Foundation earns recognition for training of workers in science fields

The Commercial Appeal
March 23, 2007
By Daniel Connolly

A regional think tank is honoring the Memphis Bioworks Foundation for its efforts to train workers in science-based fields.

The Southern Growth Policies Board, a Durham, N.C.-based organization dedicated to finding ways to improve the economy of the South, will honor the foundation, the winner among Tennessee entrants, at a June convention in St. Louis.

"I was actually surprised and privileged to have (the award) come," said Steve Bares, head of the Memphis Bioworks Foundation. "That's great. I'm glad to see that Tennessee and Memphis are being recognized for their work."

The Bioworks Foundation is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to promoting the development of science-based businesses in the Memphis area.

It's best known for its efforts to coordinate construction of the new UT-Baptist Research Park, a $450 million cluster of laboratory buildings on the site of the old Baptist Memorial Hospital. But it's also involved in numerous projects to train workers in science-related fields.

The Bioworks Foundation stood out among 20 Tennessee applicants because of its strong connection to the Memphis Academy of Science and Engineering, a charter school for middle and high school students.

"That made it unique," said Sandra Johnson, a policy analyst with the Southern Growth Policies Board.

The Bioworks foundation also works with many other educational institutions to develop the workforce. Among them is Southwest Tennessee Community College, which last year started a two-year program to train biotechnology technicians.

There are currently 22 full-time students and 91 high school students involved in the program, said Angela Ventura-Wooten, director of the bioscience career ladder. She said the college had applied for a federal grant on its own to fund the program, but said the Bioworks foundation has been a vital partner, especially for an upcoming internship program.

"They're perfect for connecting us to bioscience professionals," she said.

And the Bioworks foundation also is working with Tennessee Technology Center at Memphis, which has started a program to train students to care for animals used in laboratory experiments.

Bares said these programs and a four-year biomedical engineering program at the U of M will help make the area's work force more attractive for science-based companies.

"The way laboratory and research programs work is you've got to have people who are well-trained to make them go," he said.

"That goes from the Ph.D who's doing one part of it all the way down to the technician in the laboratory," he said.