BTI Gets Significant Six Figure Grant to Train Lab Workers
March 9 Mayor Brandon Scott announced Train Up, a free job training initiative for unemployed and underemployed Baltimore City residents impacted by COVID-19.
Biotechnical Institute of Maryland (BTI) is one of the seventeen community partners which will receive a portion of grants totaling nearly $5 million received through the American Rescue Plan Act, the largest single investment ever made in Baltimore workforce training.
“This is a significant boost to our ability to meet exploding demand from both employers and unemployed or underemployed high school graduates in Baltimore City,” Executive Director Dr. Brandy Carter said.
“Our graduates are on the front lines of the Life Sciences workforce as it continues to grow in Maryland,” Carter added. “We must scale to create the tools we need post-pandemic to keep all people healthy, our graduates now and in the future ae doing just that.” Carter added.
The new funding over the next two years will enable BTI to train and place 40 Baltimore City residents in biotech positions making a living wage of at least $18ph with benefits. The first group of new students funded by the grant will start in May with BTI’s next class/cohort.
Located in West Baltimore at 1101 W Pratt St Suite 302, Baltimore, MD 21223, BTI will train these students to gain the hands-on skills using lab instruments essential to the work underway in the region’s research, commercial, and healthcare laboratories.
About BTI
The BioTechnical Institute of Maryland, Inc. (BTI) was founded in 1998 as a non-profit to train and place entry-level biotechnicians in Maryland’s rapidly expanding biotech industry. The BTI Laboratory Associates Program provides tuition-free training in basic laboratory skills to bright, ambitious, unemployed and under-employed residents of the region.
In addition to entry level training, through its BioSciConcepts program BTI offers fee-based workshop series for professionals currently employed in the life sciences industry. Workshop participants represent a variety of employers and occupations, from toxicology and bioproduction to the food industry and come to BioSciConcepts to augment and update their skills. Participants will learn basic and advanced laboratory theory and gain hands-on experience in a variety of lab procedures.