$1.5M Grant Targets Workforce Growth, Biotech Training In Johnston County

CLAYTON — A Johnston County workforce training facility focused on biotechnology and automation will undergo a significant expansion after receiving a $1.5 million grant from the Golden LEAF Foundation, part of a statewide funding package totaling more than $17.3 million.

The award to the Johnston County Industrial Development Corporation will support the expansion and modernization of the Johnston County Workforce Development Center (WDC) in Clayton, considered the region’s primary hub for technical training in biotechnology and automation.

Project partners include Johnston Community College, the Research and Training Zone Board and Johnston County. Officials said the initiative will expand classroom and multipurpose space to accommodate new programs and increase overall training capacity.

Plans call for new construction to house classroom areas while repurposing the existing facility to provide additional laboratory space. Once completed, the project is expected to increase training capacity by approximately 25%, allowing the center to serve an estimated 80 additional students annually in life sciences programs. The expansion will also provide greater opportunities for incumbent worker training for local industries.

Industry partners, including Novo Nordisk and Grifols, have committed to collaborating with program leaders to ensure training remains aligned with workforce needs.

The funding was approved by the Golden LEAF Board of Directors during its February meeting and is part of nearly $10 million awarded through the Community-Based Grants Initiative in the North Central Prosperity Zone.

The initiative supports projects aimed at job creation, workforce preparedness and agricultural development across multiple counties, including Durham, Edgecombe, Granville, Harnett, Lee, Nash, Person and Wilson.

Golden LEAF leaders said the investments are intended to strengthen rural economies and promote long-term growth in communities historically dependent on tobacco agriculture.

Among other major projects included in the statewide announcement was a $4.8 million grant to the University of North Carolina at Pembroke for equipment supporting the state’s first public College of Optometric Medicine, which is expected to serve rural and underserved populations.

Additional funding announced includes workforce and health care projects through the Open Grants Program, as well as a SITE Program award to prepare an industrial park in Cherokee County for future economic development.

Golden LEAF, a nonprofit created from North Carolina’s tobacco settlement funds, has awarded approximately $1.5 billion in grants since its founding in 1999.