A new beginning for North Carolina’s economy and a major step in its leading commitment to biotechnology was celebrated with the official opening of the Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center at Centennial Campus Wednesday.

Governor Mike Easley, University of North Carolina System President Erskine Bowles and James Oblinger, N.C. State’s chancellor, were among the guest speakers at the event.

“[The BTEC is] an advanced facility that matches the most professional in the workforce,” Oblinger said during his speech. “We’re not just talking about the future, but we’re shaping the future.”

The building’s 63,000 square feet of training space and 9,000 square feet of classrooms make the center the largest of its kind in the world and the first biomanufacturing institution in the nation, according to BTEC’s Web site. State-of-the-art technology, equipment and facilities are designed for hands-on training by NCSU students and faculty in hopes of increasing the amount of people entering the biotechnology field.

Due to a contribution of $38 million from the Golden LEAF Foundation, along with other donations, the BTEC was able to break ground in June 2005.

The BTEC is part of the state of North Carolina’s increasing investment in the biotechnological field.

N.C. made the “right decisions at the right time” to survive in a recessing economy, Easley said.

“We lost 200,000 manufacturing jobs but replaced them with 350,000 industry jobs,” Easley said.

He said the legislation and education system strived together to make investments in biotechnology and other fields, while other states “throttled down” and did not want to take a chance.

North Carolina ranks as the third leading state of biotechnology in the nation, behind Massachusetts and California, according to Easley.

According to the BTEC’s Web site, 47,000 people work in 390 biotechnological companies throughout the state, and the number increases every day.

“The industry has been growing since 1996, even in a recession,” said Easley. “We will need the workforce the center will provide.”

Easley said he felt North Carolina needs to maintain an edge to remain competition in the world economy.

“If we don’t, it won’t be because N.C. didn’t do its part,” Easley said.

Bowles said he felt the center could make a difference in the state’s global economy.

“The world has changed, and we have to change with it,” Bowles said. “The world has grown smarter, and we have to grow smarter with it.”

Bowles said North Carolina is developing as a leader in the world’s biotechnological market by educating students and conducting research through centers like BTEC.

The University’s job is to provide students with the knowledge and skills needed to compete for jobs in the workforce, according to Bowles.

The center offered its first set of classes this semester, and some students said they feel they are already benefiting from the classes provided through the new curriculum and BTEC facilities.

“It’s helping,” Taylor Loftis, senior in chemical engineering, said. “You’re learning the little things you’d learn on the job.”

He said he felt getting hands-on experience provided through the center’s facilities allowed a “leg-up” in the job market.

“Rather than reading about it or hearing a lecture, you’re actually doing it,” Loftis said. “You actually get to see what the workplace environment is going to be like.”

Loftis said the class he is currently taking at the center is a weekly, four-hour laboratory, along with a complimentary online course.

“[NCSU] is the only place that can train students in the hands-on, state-of-the-art facility. It sets us apart from other institutions,” Loftis said.

However, similar centers are on other campuses in the UNC system, like North Carolina Central University.

The BTEC is a member of a partnership through the North Carolina community college system, the General Assembly and the UNC system, according to E. Norris Tolson, president and CEO of the N.C. Biotechnology Center. He said he felt the BTEC was the “new era and period of growth” for N.C.

Also, Tolson said he does not worry about the rank North Carolina holds in the biotechnological field. He said he is focused on the amount and types of jobs the field creates for North Carolinians.

The BTEC’s mission is to create a curriculum concentrated on providing students with the knowledge of the biotechnological industry.

“We’re hoping to train and educate students to real life, so they know the industry,” Vladimir Kostyukovsky, BTEC site operations director, said.

Kostyukovsky said the center currently is at about 25 percent of its student capacity with about 30 students this semester.

“It’s not about the numbers,” Kostyukovsky said. Instead, he said it is about the quality of education and training students receive through the center.