Published: May 6, 2026

The federal government has identified bioindustrial manufacturing as a national security priority, investing heavily in domestic production capacity to reduce reliance on foreign supply chains. For workforce developers, building a pipeline in this sector is no longer a challenge unique to them, it is a shared national imperative.

Most regions trying to grow a biomanufacturing workforce start with training programs and hope employers will follow. The Tri-Cities area of Northeast Tennessee did it differently. The Tri-Cities (Kingsport, Johnson City, and Bristol) has a population of just over 500,000, yet has developed a biomanufacturing training ecosystem that outperforms regions many times its size. For workforce and economic developers looking to understand how, the answer begins with a single employer: Eastman Chemical Company, which did not wait for the training system to produce workers. It built the training system.

The Anchor Employer: Eastman Chemical Company

Eastman Chemical Company, headquartered in Kingsport, is the largest single employer in the Tri-Cities area, and its influence on the region’s biomanufacturing workforce extends well beyond the jobs it provides. In 2010, Eastman donated its Valleybrook lab facility to East Tennessee State University, a 144-acre campus with 29 labs that became the physical foundation of the region’s training infrastructure. The company also co-funded the Regional Center for Advanced Manufacturing (RCAM) with Northeast State Community College and local government partners, and has seeded regional leadership directly: in 2026, the ETSU Research Corporation hired Dr. Katie Houston as Director of Commercialization, bringing her directly from Eastman where she led cross-functional R&D and managed external collaborations with universities, startups, and research institutions..

The Local Training Programs

Formal Education

East Tennessee State University and the ETSU Research Corporation together provide both formal education and community infrastructure to support the region’s biomanufacturing workforce.

• High schools in the region offer MIT-developed synthetic biology curriculum through a partnership with BioBuilder. This builds the pipeline before students reach college or workforce programs.
• ETSU biological sciences programs build technician-track skills: cell biology, molecular techniques, fermentation, lab instrumentation, and research documentation.
• The Valleybrook campus serves as a shared innovation hub. It is open to education programs, startups, and private companies, with state and federal investment now scaling it into a national bioindustrial facility.

Source: IPEDS 2023

Northeast State Community College (NSCC) provides programs that allow learners to enter the biomanufacturing workforce quickly, offering:

• Pre-baccalaureate certificates for Chemical Technicians
• Associate degrees for Electrical, Industrial, and Clinical Laboratory Technicians

Graduates earn certifications and develop hands-on skills in areas such as sterile technique, bioprocess operations, quality control, and laboratory instrumentation. NSCC’s programs are co-supported through the Regional Center for Advanced Manufacturing, ensuring close alignment between what is taught and what employers like Eastman actually need.

Apprenticeships

Apprenticeships provide a critical on-the-job pathway for workers who want to earn while they learn. In 2023, Northeast Tennessee recorded 71 completed apprenticeships in fields relevant to biomanufacturing, the third highest total of any metropolitan area in the country. Only the Charlotte and Portland, Oregon metropolitan areas reported more completions, and each has a population more than five times the size of the Tri-Cities area.

This highlights how the region is not only building talent through traditional education programs, but training and transitioning workers into biomanufacturing careers through hands-on pathways at a scale that outperforms far larger metro areas.

Source: RAPIDS 2023

Key Takeaways

Eastman Chemical’s decision to donate infrastructure, co-invest in curriculum, and seed regional leadership created the conditions for a talent pipeline that runs from MIT-designed synthetic biology coursework in local high schools through community college credentials, university degrees, and hands-on apprenticeships, all connected to real employer demand.

The result is a replicable model: expose learners early, provide multiple credential pathways, and ensure the region’s largest employer co-funds and co-designs the training system rather than waiting for it. Other regions looking to build a biomanufacturing workforce should start by asking whether their anchor employer is willing to do the same.

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