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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's life sciences industry growth from 2012 to 2022 was the fastest in the nation, with over 1,600 life sciences-related companies calling the Beehive State home.
As the industry continues to grow, the workforce supply is struggling to keep pace with the demand.
Current projections from the Utah Department of Workforce Services show life science occupations are expected to grow at a 33% rate and have a total of approximately 15,000 openings over the next 10 years.
"Currently, (higher education) institutions are utilizing base budget funding to operate life science programs. These funds are not enough to allow for the expansion or creation of new programs that industry desperately needs to keep up with the workforce demands," said Utah Gov. Spencer Cox.
To do so, Cox on Monday announced a proposal asking the Legislature to support a $7 million investment initiative to strategically build a bigger life sciences workforce. Cox said if the funding request is met, Utah will be able to reduce the anticipated workforce gap by 40% through program expansion, creating the capacity to educate over 1,000 new life science students year over year.
One Utah-based company that could benefit from a workforce insurgence is bioMérieux, a biotechnology company whose North American headquarters is in Salt Lake City. According to BioUtah, bioMérieux is the second-largest life sciences employer in the state, with 3,500 team members spread across six sites with approximately 300 jobs available today.
The funding will be administered through the Utah System of Higher Education and Talent Ready Utah to expand and develop targeted programs at higher education institutions. Funding will also be used to hire faculty and staff, purchase equipment for programs and provide outreach for student recruitment.
Cox said institutions will be able to apply for funding through a competitive grant process and institutions must show "regional demand, strong employer support and integrated, high-quality work-based learning experiences."
Utah Senate Majority Whip Ann Milner, R-Ogden, said she hopes initiatives like this will lead to a Silicon Slopes-like emergence for the life sciences industry in Utah.
"We're the state that's perfectly positioned for this. If we can grow the talent in this state ... we can create an incredible life science ecosystem in Utah that will be second to none in the nation," Milner said, adding that Talent Ready Utah has been at work on several initiatives to help support K-12 life science programs so students are ready to move into the life science field when they reach higher education.
University of Utah President Taylor Randall said the initiative will be "catalytic" to what the state and universities can do to invigorate Utah's economy and workforce.
"This will require all of us," he said. "This is what a system working well can do together to increase the workforce in an industry that is absolutely blowing up." Randall said he's had discussions with various deans on how academic programs can be retooled to increase the number of students going into the life science industry.
Elizabeth Cantwell, president of Utah State University, said she sees the most important aspect of the initiative as helping to position Utah to act as a national leader in life sciences.
"We have to graduate students who not only move into the workforce but become leaders. We have to bring those new ideas that come out of every sector of Utah ... bring those life sciences ideas to fruition, give them an innovation ecosystem that works for us and really drive capacity from Utah for the whole nation as opposed to attracting and bringing it here," Cantwell said.
It also looks like this initiative may just be a first step in a larger goal to build out Utah's life sciences sector.
"This is just the beginning. We hope to do even more over the years to come to close that gap and to make sure that we have the best jobs available for our students here in this state and that Utah continues to lead the nation when it comes to innovation and life sciences all across the country," Cox said.
