Jackson lab eyes expansion Training site envisioned in Fairfield biotech park

Feeling a job crunch as its genetics research expands, Bar Harbor-based Jackson Laboratory says it will look 100 miles northwest to Fairfield, where it plans a 14,000-square-foot training center for specialists in mouse biology and information technology at a new biotechnology park.

The biotechnology field is the fastest-growing field in the world, said Clyde Dyar, interim director of the Thomas M. Teague Biotechnology Center of Maine. “And Maine should be a part of that growth.”

“But right now it’s a recruiting problem,” said Dyar, whose job is to oversee the move of biotech companies into the Teague Center on a 20-acre parcel at the Fairfield Biotech Park.

With that in mind, the Jackson lab has started planning for its Teague satellite center, which will train college and even some high school students. The center is expected to be completed this fall, housing up to 110 laboratories.

Teague is supposed to serve as an incubator, designed to spawn other biotechnology businesses. In addition, other biotechnology businesses will be able to use the trained students in research environments.

“This will really help to meet the need of companies for students with some amount of training in the biotechnology field,” Dyar said. “These students can range in education from high school to postgraduate.”

Although similar training takes place at The Jackson Laboratory’s Bar Harbor headquarters, students trained at the Teague Center could begin working at neighboring companies in the biotech park.

“Now we can train them on site, and biotechnology companies can draw on those resources,” Dyar said. The resulting jobs pay fairly well: High school interns can earn $10.25 an hour. College graduates can earn $25,000 to $30,000 a year.

Chuck Bates, director of employee education and development at the Jackson lab, said the world’s largest mammalian genetics research institution is taking on more requests for research. It is a nonprofit with an $80 million annual budget that does extensive study of such problems as cancer, aging and immune system disorders.

It uses mice for much of its work.

The 1,000-employee lab is the largest employer on Mount Desert Island. Yet it could use 100 more workers with backgrounds in biotechnology, Bates said in an interview. “We are in need of trained employees,” he said. “We have employment opportunities at all levels.”

In the proposed curriculum at Teague for mouse biology technicians, Bates said, students would learn handling and maintenance of the animals, as well as colony management, leading to a concentration in lab animal science. The curriculum for the information technology technicians is not yet completed.

Schools expected to feed students into the training program at the Teague Center are Kennebec Valley Technical College, Husson College and the University of Maine at Farmington, according to Dyar.

Dyar said planners have considered allowing students at an Augusta-area high school to enroll in the program, but he hopes the training will be available for students at any high school in the state – if not during the school year, then through summer internships.

“This will widen horizons substantially from the normal biology classes that students now take,” Dyar said. “And by bringing educational institutions to the table, [colleges] will become more marketable.”

On the high school level, Dyar said, the effect of The Jackson Laboratory’s opening of a training center goes beyond teaching students how to study mice; it offers a more comprehensive exploration of math and science.

“I think that’s where the state’s educational system has been waffling along for some time,” Dyar said. “This program may actually excite some high school students into studying a little harder.”

Bates said the program at first probably would serve 10 to 15 students. Upon completion of the training, students would not be required to work at the Jackson lab and might work at one of the state’s other biotechnology centers, such as IDEXX of Westbrook, a company that studies infectious diseases in various species, or the Foundation for Blood Research in Scarborough, which attempts to prevent human disease through clinical and laboratory investigation.

The Teague Center is one of seven applied technology centers in the state that received funding in the past legislative session.

While leases with other biotech groups at Teague are expected to last two to five years, Dyar said, he hopes the Jackson lab will play a different role. “We’re looking for a long-term relationship with The Jackson Laboratory; to have them become what you might call an anchor tenant.”

A bill sponsored by Rep. Paul Tessier, D-Fairfield, obtained $5.5 million to help start high-technology business incubators in the state.

Tessier said the Teague Center is discussing leases with two other biotech companies, one in Maine; the other in Montreal. Tessier also said that the center anticipates marketing overseas when looking for additional tenants.

Tessier feels the Teague Center is off to a good start by taking on the Jackson lab as a resident.

“Their presence in the incubator will draw in other companies doing similar work,” Tessier said. “And that’s only going to mean good things for the biotechnology field in the state.”