Beginnings: dakota biotechnology rural workforce development program

Mount Marty University received a $416,091 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Office of Integrative Activities (CFDA 47.083) awarded on October 1, 2025, to implement the Dakota Biotechnology Rural Workforce Development Program through September 30, 2028. The program delivers specialized biotechnology training to current STEM students and recent graduates in South Dakota's rural communities through an integrated model combining an online biotechnology certificate program with cohort-based, on-site internships. The university coordinates with a network of 21 biotechnology companies and multiple institutions of higher education to facilitate internship placements aligned with long-term career opportunities, while corporate vanpooling provides no-cost transportation to job sites for participating interns.

The program's key deliverables include internship administration and mentor training coordination, cohort recruitment, formal biotechnology certificate program management, and formal program evaluation to assess outcomes and identify high-impact program attributes. Cross-sector partners include the network of biotechnology companies hosting internships, participating rural-serving institutions of higher education responsible for vetting and approving internships and managing the certificate program, and an external evaluator. The program aims to expand access to experiential biotechnology training and career opportunities for rural residents while generating an adaptable model and dissemination materials for broader application.

Abstract

The dakota biotechnology rural workforce development program is responsive to a regional workforce need by enabling current stem students and recent stem graduates in south dakota?s rural communities to obtain specialized training in applications of biotechnology. This training is facilitated through the combination of an online biotechnology certificate with on-site, cohort-based internships offered through a network of biotechnology companies located within commuting distance of the interns? Home communities. Each internship opportunity is aligned with a specific long-term career opportunity to ensure seamless bridge-to-career internship outcomes. Spatial clustering across the network of participating companies enables the use of corporate vanpooling to ensure that each intern has reliable, no-cost job-site transportation. The primary goal of this program is to provide individuals from rural communities with access to experiential training and careers in the emerging field of biotechnology. The cross-sector partners of this program include: 1) a network of twenty-one companies hosting biotechnology-focused bridge-to-career internships; 2) a network of institutions of higher education (IHE) serving primarily rural communities; and 3) an external evaluator. While the network of companies is responsible for administering the on-site, cohort-based, mentored internships, the institutions of higher education are responsible for vetting and approving all internships, mentor training, cohort recruitment, and administration of the formal biotechnology certificate program. Separately, an external evaluator is responsible for coordinating across the companies, ihes, and trainees to execute a formal evaluation of the program. The findings will be used to improve this program and to determine which program attributes have the most positive impacts. Final outcomes and an adaptable model will be widely disseminated for the broad benefit of stem educators and workforce development initiatives throughout the country to enhance the nation?s economic prosperity. The exlent program, supported by the NSF tip and EDU directorates, seeks to support experiential learning opportunities for individuals to increase their interest in and access to career pathways in emerging technology fields. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are not planned for this award.