Francesca Orlandi is a highly respected researcher in tumor immunology ”“ a field she has studied for her entire professional career. But this fall, she may get an opportunity to study a whole new set of subjects, thanks to an innovative training program in a public-private partnership led by the Westchester/Putnam Workforce Investment Board (WPWIB).
“My background is completely all scientific,” said Orlandi, senior research associate and Ph.D. scientist at Aureon Biosciences in Yonkers, one of the three local biotech firms that are participating in a “mini-MBA” project. The classes will be offered in September.
“I have a Ph.D. in tumor immunology. I”™ve done research all my life basically. This is a completely new field for me,” she added. “But now, since I am working in a company, my interest in these things have increased. And since I really don”™t know anything about finance or marketing, these are two main topics I am interested in. I really would like to participate in this mini-MBA. It”™s a great opportunity. I am learning something new and I am increasing my potential for the company and for myself.”
Natalie How, a senior customer specialist at Aureon, also is hoping she is selected to take advantage of the training program. “It”™s going to be only positive for myself and for Aureon to have more competitive people in its workforce. I think this is a great opportunity to learn more about financial and managerial accounting.”
Tailored to biotech firms”™ needs
The classes will be three-day long sessions with intensive training and workshops tailored specifically to help each biotech firm: Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Progenics Pharmaceuticals, both in Tarrytown, as well as Aureon. A government grant through WPWIB will pay $30,000 and the three firms will make contributions. The classes will be held at Westchester Community College”™s Valhalla campus and led by David Buckner, a professor of organizational leadership and education at Columbia University.
The training will cover business topics including economics, corporate strategy, finance, accounting and marketing.
Charles DiComo, corporate compliance officer at Aureon, said the program was first discussed as an initiative between a number of local organizations including WPWIB, Westchester Community College”™s Gateway Center ”“ an educational venue to help promote workforce development ”“ the New York BioHud Valley, Westchester Office of Economic Development and the Hudson Valley Economic Development Corp.
“It was really from Westchester Community College, sitting with Westchester-Putnam Workforce Investment Board and companies like ourselves which are part of the New York BioHud Valley and asking the question, ”˜What do we require for our current workforce that are working for us,” said DiComo, who is also a board member of Hudson Valley Economic Development Corp.
“Aureon”™s workforce covers a wide range of scientific disciplines resulting in our state-of-the-art commercial tests that predict prostate cancer recurrence. We are always looking to train our current employees. So we thought it would be great if we could design a mini-MBA program. Our employees would benefit from a more solid base of business knowledge.”
DiComo explained that the organizations put this program together through WPWIB, finding dollars that were available for training. The groups then reached out to firms via the BioHud Valley network, such as Regeneron and Aureon, to contribute funding.
As for the potential students, the interest has been overwhelming, DiComo said. “Applicants started coming in the day that we made the announcement in mid-May. Everybody feels it”™s a great way to increase their baseline knowledge of business concepts. This will further the skills of our workforce, make them more valuable to our company, as well as to each employee for whatever future will bring to them. So it”™s a great program.”
Increasing baseline knowledge of business
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals officials said the mini-MBA program is part of its corporate effort to train managers and expose them to broad business knowledge and corporate issues.
“One of our big challenges is making certain that our more senior people get a broader exposure to management and the issues that large, growing companies face,” explained Ross Grossman, vice president of human resources at Regeneron.
“Three and a half years ago, we were under 700 employees. At the end of this year, we expect to be somewhere between 1,800 and 2,000 employees,” Grossman added. “The challenges we are putting in front of our managers is the increase of the workforce that they are managing ”“ as well as the complexity of the science. We are trying to make sure that we are giving them the skills they need at this time.”
I’m so grateful for any type of research in the field of “cancer” since many family members have passed on. I’m also so very proud of you Charles. May God continue to Bless you in all you do.
A.Anny