{"id":30963,"date":"2011-01-15T16:00:44","date_gmt":"2011-01-15T21:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2011\/01\/15\/program-receives-industry-endorsement\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T22:32:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T02:32:13","slug":"program-receives-industry-endorsement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2011\/01\/15\/program-receives-industry-endorsement\/","title":{"rendered":"Program Receives Industry Endorsement"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_480\" style=\"width: 210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-480\" src=\"https:\/\/departments.necc.mass.edu\/newsroom\/files\/2011\/05\/lane-glenn-noemicustodia-lora-billheineman.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"289\" class=\"size-full wp-image-480\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-480\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">NECC\u2019s laboratory science associate degree, which prepares students for biotechnology jobs, has just received the highest endorsement from representatives from the biotechnology industry. Shown left to right at the awards ceremony are Lane Glenn, NECC\u2019s vice president of academic affairs, Noemi Custodia-Lora, coordinator of the lab science program, and Bill Heineman, dean, business, math, science and technology.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>NECC\u2019s laboratory science associate degree, which prepares students for biotechnology jobs, has just received the highest endorsement from representatives from the biotechnology industry. <\/p>\n<p>The college\u2019s program was one of eight community college programs to be endorsed by the Massachusetts Life Science Education Consortium (MLSEC) and one of four colleges to receive a gold level endorsement, the highest given. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve closely reviewed these programs and we\u2019re confident they graduate students with the skills companies are looking for,\u201d said Sara MacDonald, a spokesperson for the Mass Biotechnology Council (MassBio). \u201cIf a student graduates from Northern Essex, we have the confidence they have the skills necessary to perform in the biotech environment.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Launched in the fall of 2009, NECC\u2019s associate of science in laboratory science was designed in response to a need voiced by area employers for skilled lab technicians. A three year grant totaling more than $311,000 from the National Science Foundation\u2019s Advanced Technological Education Program helped fund the development of this associate degree program as well as the equipment and educational materials and supplies. <\/p>\n<p>The college sought the advice of regional employers when designing the program which prepares students for careers in environmental sciences and chemical analysis in addition to biotechnology. A lab science advisory board was created consisting of principles from local employers including Adnexus Therapeutics, Andover Water Plant, Archemix Corp, BAL Laboratory, Charm Sciences, LONZA Biologics, Mass Dept. of Environmental Protection, Mass Dept. of Public Health, Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, North Andover Water Treatment Plant, Northeast Laboratory Services, and Pfizer. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis endorsement is very exciting news for the college,\u201d said Noemi Custodia-Lora, coordinator of the program. \u201cIt means that industry recognizes our program as the standard for lab technician education. Best of all, it will result in expanded externship and job opportunities for our students.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NECC\u2019s laboratory science associate degree, which prepares students for biotechnology jobs, has just received the highest endorsement from representatives from the biotechnology industry. The college\u2019s program was one of eight [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":137,"featured_media":30965,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Program Receives Industry Endorsement - NECC News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2011\/01\/15\/program-receives-industry-endorsement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Program Receives Industry Endorsement - NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"NECC\u2019s laboratory science associate degree, which prepares students for biotechnology jobs, has just received the highest endorsement from representatives from the biotechnology industry. 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