The Flinn Foundation recently has awarded the Center for Entrepreneurial Innovation from Gateway Community college more than $350,000 over three years to support CEI’s LabForce professional development center on the Phoenix Bioscience Core.

The funding will be used to support LabForce’s expansion in 850 PBC, expanding its Certified Biotechnology Lab Professional training program, providing bioscience and biotechnology companies with rentable wet lab space, and increasing programming that helps meet the neds of the industry, according to an article on Gateway Community College’s website. CEI Labforce will be a key component of the new Wexford Innovation Labs on the fifth floor of 850 PBC, where it will help program and manage the space.

“We are honored to receive this grant from the Flinn Foundation,” said Tom Schumann, CEI’s executive director. “This award will help us expand our bioscience training to help meet the workforce needs of the state’s fast-growing bioscience industry. LabForce serves an important need by producing talent ready to serve in their STEM-focused laboratory and manufacturing positions.”

A major challenge for any innovation district is continuously finding top talent to fill often highly specialized or skilled roles, and that’s even more true in the field of life sciences and medical research. While the PBC is home to Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University and the University of Arizona, as well as the Phoenix Union Bioscience High School and the ASU Preparatory Academy, ensuring students from these schools have the correct training to support new and existing companies on the PBC is critical to sustaining Arizona’s growth in life sciences.

“Incorporating CEI LabForce and its strategic training programs into the Wexford Innovation Labs is going to be a key component of our ecosystem,” said PBC Executive Director David Krietor. “To be able to train new employees, upskill existing ones and offer additional services such as support and programming to our community of life science companies ensures they’ll be able to continue to grow and thrive for years to come.”

The Center for Entrepreneurial Innovation is also responsible for Venture Café Phoenix, a platform for innovators, entrepreneurs, researchers and other members of the community to network, collaborate and share ideas.

Flinn Foundation continues to support PBC

The Flinn Foundation is an enthusiastic support of the Phoenix Bioscience Core and its members.

In April 2022, the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix announced it had received a $5.52 million grant over five years to support several key new faculty roles in the college of medicine in the areas of  Translational Cardiovascular Research Center and one in the Department of Translational Neurosciences. And they are a regular partner for programming around the Phoenix Bioscience Core, including the ARBC-Flinn Research Conference.

“The Flinn Foundation is one of the PBC’s most valuable community partners,” said David Krietor, executive director of the PBC. “Beyond their generous philanthropic efforts, they are focused on making Arizona a better place for its citizens and by supporting the efforts of CEI and Labforce, as well as the University of Arizona’s College of Medicine – Phoenix.”

In addition to the philanthropic efforts, the Flinn Foundation is also focused on improving Arizona’s life sciences economy. Over 20 years ago, the Flinn Foundation created the Biosciences Roadmap, a long-term plan to make Arizona a national life sciences hub by 2025.

Source: Gateway Community College