Montgomery County Breakfast: Exploring Life Sciences

Our County Breakfast Conversations series kicked off this week in Montgomery County. About 200 business executives, policy officials and economic developers came out to Ambler to talk about life sciences in our region. Much of the conversation focused on the importance of keeping talented and knowledgeable people in Greater Philadelphia, especially as many large biotech and pharmaceutical firms are being restructured. Read more below.

Listen to Rob talk about the breakfast and an important new workforce development initiative of both the Chamber and our region’s colleges and universities.

 

Retaining and redeploying Life Sciences workers are keys to growth in Montgomery County and Greater Philadelphia

September 23- Retaining and redeploying skilled workers are the keys to Greater Philadelphia maintaining its position as a national leader in life sciences, according to Montgomery County executives speaking at a meeting yesterday (9/23) presented by the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce.

The Hon. James R. Matthews, Chairman, Montgomery County Commissioners; Steve Mongiardo, Senior Director of Global Engineering, Merck & Co.; and Barbara S. Schilberg, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, BioAdvance were the featured panelists at the Chamber’s Montgomery County Breakfast, which was attended by more than 200 business executives, policy makers and civic leaders.

A chief reason why Greater Philadelphia holds a position as a major center for life sciences is the strength of its knowledge base, which is fueled by the region’s 92 colleges and universities.

Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Rob Wonderling noted that continued growth in the life sciences industry depends on how effectively education and workforce training are tied to industry needs. “Human capital is a high priority goal for us,” he said. “We are developing a scorecard with the colleges and universities in this region to understand where the gaps are from an employment perspective.”

Large biotech and pharmaceutical companies in Montgomery County and throughout the region are adjusting workforce levels because of mergers or market conditions, said Schilberg. To maintain regional strength in this sector, these skilled employees must be redeployed here.

“The time is now for our region to be in the forefront of the rearranging the jigsaw pieces,” said Schilberg. “We need to take the people with tremendous expertise coming out of big Pharma, and put them in the support roles needed by small business. If we can do that, we have an entire ecosystem where the more you have locally, the better you are and the greater the economic impact.”

Commissioner Matthews noted that Montgomery County was providing funds for businesses to grow. “We must allow for entrepreneurs to come forward,” he said.

The Montgomery County Breakfast, held at Talamore County Club in Ambler, was presented by the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and Select Greater Philadelphia, sponsored by Wachovia, a Wells Fargo company, and co-sponsored by Devry University.

It was the kick-off event of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce’s annual County Breakfast Conversations series. In its 6th year, the County Breakfast Conversations are visiting eight counties throughout northern Delaware, southern New Jersey, and southeastern Pennsylvania to explore how Greater Philadelphia’s leading industry sectors are changing where we live and work and making our region an attractive, competitive place to do business.

The next county breakfast will be October 29 in New Castle County at the Waterfall Banquet & Conference Center in Claymont.

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