A job-training model that launched North Carolina workers straight into the pharmaceutical industry is coming to Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley. It could be the blueprint for landing a career at Eli Lilly and Co.’s new $3.5 billion plant.
The pharmaceutical giant is building a massive drug production facility in Upper Macungie Township that is expected to employ about 850 people when it is completed in 2031. To ensure local residents are prepared to compete for those jobs, the state recently awarded Lehigh Carbon Community College a $5 million grant to train maintenance technicians for the facility.
LCCC will model its curriculum on Wake Technical Community College’s BioMechatronics Apprenticeship in Raleigh, North Carolina. That program, created in partnership with Eli Lilly and other biotech firms, pays students from the start of the program…