The following excerpt is from an article originally published by the Boston Business Journal on March 2, 2023.
The push to grow the life sciences workforce in Massachusetts would receive a boost through Gov. Maura Healey‘s first proposed budget.
If the budget is approved as written, Massachusetts will allocate $10 million for the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center in fiscal 2024. Healey has also proposed nearly $5 million to expand and diversify apprenticeship programs and millions more to fund early college programs and workforce development at community colleges.
“This is exactly what we need to see from our partners in state government,” MassBio CEO Kendalle Burlin O’Connell said in a tweet Wednesday. “#EarlyCollege is a proven winner. Apprenticeships work. This is how Mass. provides pathways to students for careers & supports industries like the #lifesciences with high talent demands.”
“MassBio applauds Governor Healey for the proposed expansions and will advocate for both the policy choices and funding levels that improve career access and opportunity for Massachusetts learners,” [MassBio spokesman Ryan] Boehm said.
Workforce training has been a major goal of MassBio, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, and educators and public officials across the Bay State. Predictions estimate tens of thousands of new jobs coming to the state’s life sciences sector.
Over the last several years, officials have worked to find ways to ensure that those jobs go to existing Massachusetts residents, particularly Black and Brown people of color who currently make up a small portion of the biopharmaceutical industry.