WORTHINGTON -- Although "Bioscience for Dummies" has yet to be published, the Worthington Area Chamber of Commerce has done its best to create a primer for those who want to learn more about the industry.
A pamphlet titled "Learning Bioscience" may be picked up at the Chamber office and will also be available at the third annual Bioscience Conference, which begins Thursday in Worthington. The two-day event, coordinated by Worthington Regional Economic Development Corp. (WREDC), will take place at Worthington High School.
"We're really encouraging the general public to come out to the conference," WREDC manager Glenn Thuringer said Monday afternoon. "This isn't a closed event by any means. Anyone interested in learning more about the industry is welcome."
There's plenty to learn about the bioscience industry, which in itself is made up of a number of industries.
"The biosciences are not just biotechnology but a range of industry sectors," the Chamber pamphlet explains. "They cut across different markets and include manufacturing, services and research activities. The biosciences make up an industry cluster that is constantly altered and reinvented as scientists, engineers and researchers gain new insights into the ways living organisms function."
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The Battelle Memorial Institute and the State Science and Technology Institute for the Biotechnology Industrial Organization (BIO) has identified five primary sub-sectors of the bioscience industry, according to the Chamber's pamphlet: agricultural feedstock and chemicals; drugs and pharmaceuticals; medical devices and equipment; research and testing; and academic health centers, research hospitals and research institutes.
Growth within many of those sub-sectors is a main reason why bioscience is a buzzword among economic development professionals across the country.
"The biosciences are composed of rapidly growing industry sectors. ... The biosciences offer high-paying, quality jobs across a range of occupations," the Chamber pamphlet states. "The biosciences not only involve a diversity of markets but cut across manufacturing, services and research activities as well."
The range of applications for the bioscience industry range from life-saving drugs and cleaner bioengineered fuels to new medical devices, healthier foods and others. Minnesota is poised to grow in the industry, as such companies as Medtronic, 3M Health Care, Guidant Corp., Land O'Lakes Agricultural Services and Ecolab are located in the state. Worthington's own Prairie Holdings Group, additionally, has also secured many business agreements both nationally and internationally.
"I think our conference gives people the chance to see some of the many economic development opportunities in the community," Thuringer said. "This is also a regional conference, and you'll see communities like St. Cloud, Willmar and Rochester attending the conference, as well as from other states."
The proceedings officially get under way Thursday with a 6 p.m. welcome and a 6:15 panel discussion, "State of the Bioscience Industry." A social reception will be from 8 to 10 p.m. at the Historic Dayton House.
Three panel discussions are scheduled for Friday, and keynote speaker Gale Buchanan -- the under secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Department of Research, Education and Economics -- will talk during the noon hour.
Additionally, the WREDC has announced that KELO-TV news anchor Don Jorgensen will be the emcee for this year's conference. An employee of the Sioux Falls, S.D., television station for 17 years, Jorgensen now co-anchors KELO's 5, 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts.
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"We're very excited to have Mr. Jorgensen be a part of this year's conference," Thuringer said, adding that registration for the event is going well. "Every year we've had the conference, the attendance has increased."
For more information about the Bioscience Conference -- which has the theme "Linking Agricultural Bioscience to Human Health Bioscience" -- call WREDC at 372-5515 or go to the Web site at http://www.wgtn.net/Wredc .
