As eastern North Carolina’s medical, commercial, and educational hub, Greenville has more than 2,000 people working in pharmaceutical manufacturing occupations—a concentration 12 times higher than the U.S.
Higher location quotient than U.S. average for skilled occupations including Industrial Production Managers, Industrial Engineers and Chemists
With training programs at East Carolina University and Pitt Community College, the labor force is strong and skilled for the biotechnology and life sciences industry
Located within the BioPharma Crescent, a five-county region with more than a dozen companies employing 10,000 people in pharmaceutical manufacturing and five active sites ready for development
Greenville Utilities Commission (GUC) has met the life science industry’s needs since the region’s first pharmaceutical manufacturer began operations more than 50 years ago. From electricity, natural gas to water, GUC ensures capacity and reliability for manufacturers. The local water treatment plant, as supplied by the Tar River, has a plant capacity of 22.5 mgd, capable of meeting the needs of pharma companies.
Greenville’s two leading educational institutions continually fill the talent pipeline with their pharmaceutical and biotechnology programs. “Much of our workforce received pharma-specific training at East Carolina University, Pitt Community College and other area institutions, so the workforce pipeline has been advantageous for us,” says Troy Woelfel, Vice President and General Manager, Greenville Operations at Metrics Contract Services.
East Carolina University (ECU) offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in biomedical engineering while Pitt Community College’s (PCC) biotechnology program is designed to meet the increasing demands for skilled laboratory technicians in various fields of biological and chemical technology.
The two institutions have come together for a one-of-a-kind collaboration, North Carolina Pharmaceutical Services Network, that provides a continuum of pharmaceutical education and training to new and existing companies in the Greenville region and beyond. ECU’s Pharmaceutical Development and Manufacturing Center of Excellence further prepares students for pharmaceutical careers and trains existing workforce in current good manufacturing practices (cGMP).
Specialty pharmaceutical company
Multinational pharmaceutical company
World leader in serving science
Thermo Fisher Scientific is expanding its site in Greenville for sterile drug product development and commercial manufacturing of critical medicines, therapies, and vaccines. As part of the approximate $500 million investment in Greenville, about 500 new positions will be hired over in 2021 and 2022. These jobs will add to its existing workforce of more than 1,500 employees.