Local leaders gathered Wednesday on Durham Technical Community College’s main campus to celebrate the largest donation in the school’s 60-year history. The global health care firm Novo Nordisk, which has three facilities in the area, will give $6 million to the life science program at Durham Tech, including money for a new 35,000-square-foot Life Science Training Center.
In November, Durham County residents approved funding for the center through a $112.7 million bond referendum. Construction is expected to begin later this year and be finished in 2026. Besides pitching in for the center, Novo Nordisk’s donation will fund a new biotechnology degree program and create retraining opportunities for current workers to transition to biotechnology careers.
“Today’s announcement is about a company’s investment in the people of this region,” said J.B. Buxton, president of Durham Tech.
A charter member of the North Carolina Community College system, Durham Tech now teaches more than 18,000 students annually across its seven campuses in Durham and Orange counties and online. Its main campus is just southeast of downtown near the Durham freeway.
Headquartered in Denmark, Novo Nordisk employs around 1,800 people in the Triangle, with two facilities in Clayton and one in Durham. The company manufactures medications and devices with a focus on treating diabetes.
In addition to the donation, Novo Nordisk said it will have employees teach through Durham Tech’s professor-in-residence program while also offering internships.
The donation comes at a time when many manufacturing companies struggle to find enough skilled labor. Novo Nordisk leaders said Wednesday that they want students to know of the opportunities in life sciences.
“Through this partnership with Durham Tech, we will provide apprenticeships, internships, scholarship programs, and the latest biotech equipment to train the future workforce, and that is exciting,” said Shaylah Nunn Jons, Novo Nordisk’s government and public affairs lead. “We are proud of our region’s dynamic biotech industry and are thrilled to help expand and diversify our talent pipeline.”
This story was produced with financial support from a coalition of partners led by Innovate Raleigh as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work.
This story was originally published January 12, 2023 8:35 AM.
Brian Gordon is the Innovate Raleigh reporter for The News & Observer and The Herald-Sun. He writes about jobs, start-ups and all the big tech things transforming the Triangle.
