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g� <br />When western Johnston County, a center of North Carolina's once thriving tobacco trade, <br />found itself becoming a hub of the worldwide bionnanufacturing industry, county leaders real- <br />ized it was time to shift Johnston's economic focus and, ultimately, its identity. <br />Wet lab at site of Johnston Community <br />College's BioWorks program. <br />Bayer's manufacturing site in Clayton, employing <br />1,550 people, is the world's largest plasma frac- <br />tionation facility. Less than a mile down the road <br />Novo Nordisk, with 350 employees, operates <br />the only insulin production facility in the U.S. <br />"Maintaining the vitality of this diverse industry <br />can play a key role in ensuring the region's <br />future economic health," said Charles Hayes, <br />president and CEO of the 13- county Research <br />Triangle Regional Partnership. <br />And Johnston County leaders are making <br />sure it happens. "We believe the best incentive <br />we have to offer business is a prepared workforce that needs <br />less training after employment," maintains Linwood Parker, <br />chairman of the county Economic Development Advisory <br />Board. The Board led area business leaders, government and <br />education officials to request funding for the Clayton Skills <br />Training Center, a state -of- the -art biomanufactu ring train- <br />ing facility. <br />Golden LEAF funding for a preliminary design report to <br />help secure construction financing gave the idea a big boost <br />early on. "The resulting grant allowed us to begin designing <br />the training center," said Michael de Sherbinin, director of the <br />Johnston County Economic Development Office. "Thanks to <br />the Golden LEAF grant and our Board of Commissioners, we <br />can assure these companies a reality —not false hope. The <br />BioWorks training center will be in their back yard." <br />The $3 million -plus facility, being built in cooperation <br />with Johnston Community College and Johnston County <br />Public Schools, will occupy a 28 -acre site in Clayton owned <br />by Novo Nordisk. In addition to customized training for the <br />likes of Bayer, Novo Nordisk and the nearby Fresenius Kabi, <br />Johnston Community College anticipates that several other <br />8 Measuring Up <br />