Ohio to invest up to $30M in biomanufacturing training center

Driven by the threat of potential tariffs on pharmaceuticals, large drugmakers have recently pledged major capital expenditures for U.S. manufacturing. Big Pharma has announced a total of about $350 billion in multi-year investments in new builds and upgrades to existing production facilities, according to commercial real estate services firm CBRE.

The threat of pharma-specific tariffs, as well as tax incentives in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed into law by President Trump in July, is fueling the onshoring of drug manufacturing, fill-finish operations, and distribution, and Ohio is aiming to be one of the country’s strongest competitors for the high-demand technical jobs expected to be created as a result of the increased investment.

“You put all this together, and we have seen over the last eight months north of $300 billion of capital commitments from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies,” says Tyler Allchin, managing director for healthcare at JobsOhio, a private nonprofit economic development corporation focused on business growth and workforce development in the Buckeye State.

In April, California-based biotechnology company Amgen announced a $900 million investment to expand its biomanufacturing facility in New Albany, Ohio, creating 350 new jobs. The outlay is expected to bring the total number of jobs in the state to 750 and increase the company’s total investment in Central Ohio to more than $1.4 billion. Construction is expected to be completed in 2027.

Building a pipeline of skilled workers

To meet industry demand and ensure a pipeline of skilled workers, JobsOhio has announced a new biomanufacturing workforce initiative. Developed in partnership with the Ohio Life Sciences Association (OLS) and One Columbus, the plan calls for up to $30 million over five years to build a state-of-the-art training center in central Ohio. The initiative is designed to prepare Ohioans for operator and technician roles in pharmaceutical manufacturing and related biotech careers.

“We see the market growing, not only in the United States, but globally, and we want to make sure we’re doing everything we can to capture the job creation opportunity that’s in front of us right now,” says Allchin.

According to Allchin, given Ohio’s history in the fact that the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, fill-finish for pharmaceuticals and the distribution are all legacy strengths, the state is primed to adapt to the changing market. Ohio has a long history in pharmaceutical and biomanufacturing, he says, with decades of drug production, strong contract development and manufacturing capabilities, and a growing biotech ecosystem.

Competing for future investments

Also critical to this workforce initiative is demonstrating that Ohio can sustain a skilled talent pipeline as pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies contemplate where to make investments.

In CBRE’s 2025 annual analysis of 100 U.S. life sciences markets, Boston-Cambridge beat out New York-New Jersey for the top spot when it comes to core life sciences manufacturing talent. Ohio’s Cincinnati and Cleveland were ranked 17th and 18th, respectively.

Allchin notes that companies often commit billions of dollars in initial investments and prioritize locations with access to a steady pipeline of skilled, certified technicians and operators for highly technical and highly automated cleanroom and cleanroom-like environments.

“Our leadership knew we needed to make additional investments on this front, to not only serve the market leaders we have in Ohio, but to win more of these projects down the line,” says Allchin. “Our workforce offering and the economic development team were put into work in furtherance of developing this pipeline needed to be built for the future.”

Inside the new training center

At the heart of the initiative is the new training center that will feature labs, simulated cleanrooms, and classrooms, which will offer expanded programming designed to prepare students for careers in biomanufacturing, according to JobsOhio.

“We will be working with our industry partners to co-develop and co-design both the facility and the curriculum,” says Allchin. “The subject matter expertise that we have in talent and workforce are top notch, and they will insist on onboarding strategies, needs, learnings, and more from our industry peers.”

The new training center will replicate the environment of a real-world biomanufacturing facility, giving students the chance to gain hands-on experience and earn a certificate in just a few months to jumpstart a career in biopharma manufacturing, says Allchin. 

“One hindrance to success and growth in this industry is just getting comfortable with the basics, with the verbiage, with the ability to communicate with your teammates and your manager,” according to Allchin. “This program will take a student from very little familiarity inside a pharmaceutical operation operation and get them those basic skills that they need to thrive.”

After leaving the program, the certificate holders could then be introduced to a foundational career at a pharmaceutical or manufacturing or biotech manufacturing site that has partnered with this initiative, he says.

”This is by no means an exhaustive training or exhaustive educational program, but it’s a head start, and it’s designed to get Ohioans better equipped to hit the ground running after they’ve gone through their employer specific training,” added Allchin.

Building the curriculum

In providing the curriculum, OLS will oversee operations and collaborate with Ohio higher education institutions to deliver curricula, according to JobsOhio. The goal is to create what they described as a “hub and spoke” program via a network of community colleges and technical schools throughout Ohio to meet employment needs in all parts of the state.

“We’ve been prioritizing industry input as we have been developing the facility and curriculum,” says Allchin. “We’ve done a series of interviews with smaller biotechs, with larger pharmaceutical operations, with CDMOs, and our university community college training center technical school partners to make sure that we’re hitting the mark on the curriculum and program.”

In the coming months, JobsOhio is aiming to roll out an advisory board for the training center.

“This will be made up of industry participants, so their voice will be heard consistently at a leadership level to ensure that every step of the way we’re building this program and center to exceed specifications,” according to Allchin. “That includes the timeliness of how we’re getting students in and through the program.”