By Sam Konduros, President & CEO, SCBIO

As the state’s only economic development organization and industry association exclusively focused on building, advancing and growing the life sciences industry, SCBIO continues to pack on muscle with an agile but growing executive team supported by public-private investors, a multi-disciplinary board of directors and a robust industry and innovation council loaded with industry experts.  

Just as importantly, it is enabling SCBIO to identify and tackle challenging long-term issues that could impede future growth if not aggressively dealt with, ranging from impactful workforce development strategies to serving as an effective voice for the industry and its ongoing prosperity with respect to state and federal policy issues. 

The newly minted strategic plan has accordingly outlined highly specific initiatives to deepen South Carolina’s life sciences talent pool, and that critical ongoing effort has been markedly propelled by bringing industry leaders and educators together for dynamic conversations in multiple venues across the state over the past year.  

Highlighted talent initiatives range from the gathering and sharing of vital intelligence from life sciences industry executives to identifying best practices across the country and the state to emulate, to teaming up with Apprenticeship Carolina and statewide workforce partners, to reaching consensus with higher education leaders on the need for developing biotech and medtech curriculum tracks within the S.C. Technical College System, mirroring the success of similar strategies already employed by the better known automotive and aerospace industries.

SCBIO is committed to a culture of collaboration, and to literally facilitating a multi-disciplinary and cross-functional “body contact sport” of sorts between industry, academia, clinicians, healthcare administrators, economic developers, core service providers, elected officials and business leaders that can achieve real results, and often doesn’t occur naturally. 

Too often, the many diverse stakeholders required to successfully advance this industry are so busy in their unique and incredibly demanding spheres that it is difficult to consistently intersect and converge on issues and opportunities that can be accelerated and optimized when multiple experts are literally in the room.  As such, no strategic activity undertaken by the organization is more important than constantly convening and connecting the state’s life science industries with diverse but equally vital stakeholders and partners.

And to that end, over 60 collaborative gatherings from board meetings to bootcamps to legislative receptions to corporate meet-ups are being facilitated by the organization in 2019 all across South Carolina, including the SCBIO Annual Conference—the crowning life sciences event of the year in the Palmetto State. This year’s conference is anticipated to be the largest ever and will take place at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Greenville October 29-31.  

The agenda is loaded with global, national and state thought leaders and industry champions who will collaboratively focus on transformative issues, leading-edge technologies, disruptive healthcare initiatives, provocative policy issues and far-reaching trends that are both impacting and driving the domestic and international life sciences industry forward—with real and serious implications for South Carolina and its rising position within this global arena.  

In addition to investors and stakeholders of SCBIO, interested non-members are encouraged to register and attend this dynamic, one-of-a-kind South Carolina gathering and high-impact learning and collaboration event. Visit www.SCBIO.org for details.