Published July 2005
County's
biotech sector
something to praise
and improve
Snohomish County's
aerospace sector wasn't the only local industry to make waves across the
Atlantic in June.
Just as Boeing was
announcing new sales orders for its jet planes and plans for its next-generation
787 Dreamliner at the Paris air show, a top-level official with Schering
AG was praising the county's proactive biotech stance during a luncheon
with German business executives.
Dr. Winfried Haumesser,
director of industrial operations and environment for the biotech company,
cited a speedy permitting process, skilled workers and a concentration
of other biotech firms among the reasons Schering AG decided to site a
manufacturing facility for subsidiary Berlex Laboratories within the county.
Berlex is investing
more than $70 million in a Lynnwood-area facility to manufacture biotech
drugs such as Leukine, a cancer drug that may have potential as a treatment
for Crohn's disease as well. At the outset, the plant will employ 70 workers
in highly skilled, family-wage jobs with the potential to employ as many
as 180 by 2009 if product demand grows.
During the June luncheon,
which was attended by a state trade delegation that included Gov. Christine
Gregoire, Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon and Snohomish County
Economic Development Council President Deborah Knutson, Haumesser predicted
that more biotech and biomedical manufacturers would follow Schering to
the county.
Already, Snohomish
County is home to 25 percent of Washington state's biotech jobs, with
companies such as ICOS Corp., CombiMatrix and SonoSite Inc. located here.
But Haumesser's prediction reinforces the notion that the county is a
progressive hub for the biotech industry, one that should be strengthened
to ensure a diverse economy.
It was welcome to
note, then, that Haumesser's words did not evoke a sense of complacency
in the county leadership, but rather an intensified desire to promote
an atmosphere conducive to biotech excellence, specifically, by ensuring
a skilled work force for incoming biotech companies.
To that end, Reardon
suggested that a four-year polytechnic university located in the county
would be a step in the right direction and that a Legislature-approved
study concerning creation of a university in Snohomish County should underscore
the need for such an institution.
"Investment in education
and technology infrastructure is essential to the ongoing success of the
biotechnology industry in Snohomish County," Reardon said during his June
trip abroad. "A skilled and educated work force particularly in
life sciences and bioengineering disciplines is the foundation
on which the next generation of Berlex Laboratories will be built."
And, with such an
outlook, it is hoped that the "next generation of Berlex Laboratories"
will be built here.
Kimberly Hilden, SCBJ Assistant Editor
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