Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, the world’s second largest vaccine manufacturer, chose Holly Springs as the site for its new plant and committed to hiring up to 400 employees at an average salary of $49,900 plus benefits. At the same time, the North Carolina Community College System made a commitment: Those employees would be highly skilled and qualified to create safe, effective vaccines.

Training, led by Wake Technical Community College, started at the BioNetwork Capstone Center in Raleigh in the spring of 2009. The first 68 workers received specialized training in the Center’s state-of-the-art aseptic suite and became schooled in leadership skills and the German language. Subsequent sessions covered a broad range of manufacturing techniques, including validation, cell culture processes, cGMP, pipetting, and safety.

When fully operational, the Novartis plant will provide 50 million doses of flu vaccine seasonally; in the event of a declared pandemic, its cell culture-derived process will make rapid delivery of the vaccine possible. With expertly-trained workers producing quality products, Novartis has earned its place on the leading edge of disease prevention and health maintenance worldwide. Thanks to the first-rate training those workers received locally, the Novartis plant in Holly Springs will help make our region’s economy healthy as well.