BioSTL, the nonprofit bioscience innovation hub, was awarded $6 million in grants targeting St. Louis-area workforce development initiatives targeting high-paying, in-demand research, technology and manufacturing jobs.
The organization received a $4 million grant from the James S. McDonnell Foundation to build "equitable bioscience career pathways" promoting economic mobility in St. Louis, especially among youth ages 16 to 24 who are "disconnected from school and work," BioSTL said Tuesday in a release. The funds will be used to partner with other organizations to deliver training, wrap-around services and apprenticeship programming so that St. Louisans from historically marginalized groups, especially those without four-year degrees, can participate in the region’s growing bioscience innovation ecosystem, officials said.
JSMF pivoted in December 2023 from funding global scientific research on the complexities of human cognition and human systems to a sole focus on inclusive and equitable economic growth in St. Louis.
“This support from JSMF allows us to scale up partnerships and strategic activities of the Bioscience Industry-Workforce Collaborative," Brittany Whitley, director of regional workforce strategy for BioSTL, said in the release. “Funds will be used to expand successful pilot initiatives and partnerships from the past few years, with an emphasis on serving St. Louisans with the greatest need. We have also dedicated resources for our Workforce Development Equity Community of Practice, led by Forward through Ferguson and Starkloff Disability Institute, to ensure accountability among employer, training, and community partner equity and partnership goals.”
“Forward Through Ferguson is proud to partner with BioSTL, the Starkloff Disability Institute, and partners across our community to ensure that all St. Louisans have the opportunity to thrive,” Annissa McCaskill, executive director of Forward Through Ferguson., said in a statement. “As outlined by the Ferguson Commission, job training and creation is an important part of the solution for increasing economic mobility for all in the region. This investment will strengthen collaborations to support better learning and economic outcomes that benefit individuals, companies, and communities.”
Separately, BioSTL also was named as a partner in a recent U.S. Department of Labor Apprenticeship Building America grant to the Missouri Department of Higher Education & Workforce Development (MDHEWD). Of the $4 million MDHEWD received, BioSTL will get $2 million to boost pre-apprenticeship programs in critical and emerging technologies in the St. Louis region. The effort aims to allow Missourians to be hired in high-wage jobs in high-demand industries, officials said, including advanced manufacturing, bioscience, data science and cybersecurity.
BioSTL said that it will partner with MDHEWD and the Missouri Works Initiative (MWI), a nonprofit sponsored by the Missouri AFL-CIO, to use the federal grant to launch the Missouri Strategies for Training and Apprentice Readiness (MO-STAR) project.
MO-STAR aims to put 625 Missouri residents through pre-apprenticeship programs with the aim of getting long-term employment in skilled, higher-wage jobs, to create a more diverse and skilled workforce by serving underrepresented populations, officials said.
BioSTL will lead the co-development and expansion of new and existing pre-apprenticeship programs in the St. Louis area, in partnership with the nonprofit Family and Workforce Centers of America, Harris-Stowe State University and Cortex. The goal is to meet the demand in the region for middle-skill laboratory, manufacturing and business technology support jobs, according to the release.
The initiative will allow the biotech skills “boot camp” training piloted in the last year by St. Louis Community College and BioSTL to be scaled up, providing basic skills needed for entry-level technician jobs in the biosciences, officials said.
"The MO-STAR project will support MDHEWD’s goal of being the best in the Midwest in educational attainment and workforce participation by 2030 while also boosting the progress in how we serve underrepresented populations,” Julie Carter, director of the Office of Workforce Development, said in a statement.
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