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Job opportunities in the bioscience field range widely, from manufacturing and warehouse positions to high-tech openings for scientists and engineers, industry experts said.
Bioscience is used to describe the growing industry in Ohio of drug manufacturers, medical equipment manufacturers, agricultural science companies, medical and testing laboratories, and researchers.
Ohio bioscience firms employed 60,600 workers in 2011, according to the industry trade group BioOhio. Employment in the field has increased 16.5 percent since 2000.
Bioscience sector jobs in Ohio are also high-paying, averaging $75,523, according to BioOhio information.
Interested? BioOhio has organized a job fair for 1 to 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 10, in Mason. The Southwest Ohio Biomedical & Pharmaceutical Career Fair, one of two such industry-specific hiring events in 2014, will be held at Mason Municipal Center, 6000 Mason-Montgomery Road.
The job fair is free to attend and open to the public.
“The companies that are going to be there…they have a variety of positions available,” said Drew Cook, project and technology manager for BioOhio. “While bioscience is not the largest industry in the state, it is vibrant and growing.”
Participating employers at the Mason fair include Aerotek, AtriCure, Alkermes, AssureRx, Avecia, Medpace, and Mound Laser and Photonics Center. They will be hiring for jobs in the following areas: clinical/medical research, bioinformatics/biostatistics, biomedical engineering, quality and regulatory affairs, manufacturing, microbiology, project/study management, toxicology/pharmacology, biochemistry, and marketing/sales.
Pharmaceutical company Alkermes manufactures in Wilmington two commercial drugs, one for the treatment of Schizophrenia and Vivitrol, used to treat alcohol-dependency and opiate addiction, said Kelly Bryant, human resources manager. Both drugs produced there are injections. Workers on site also do some research and development activities.
The Ireland-based company currently employs about 270 people in Wilmington, Bryant said.
“We’ve got some pretty high-level scientific positions open,” Bryant said. “But we’ve also got more of an entry-level job as a manufacturing associate.”
Alkermes hires manufacturing associates through a staffing agency, as temporary-to-hire workers. The company is looking for college graduates of two- and four-year degree programs in chemistry, biology and biotechnology to fill open manufacturing jobs. Candidates with five years of pharmaceutical experience, for example, are also considered.
“That’s kind of an entry-way into the company,” she said.
For more information about the Biomedical & Pharmaceutical Career Fair, go online to www.bioohio.com/events/career-fairs/. And, for more information about jobs in the industry, go online to www.bioohioworkforce.org.
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