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Linda Love: BRITE is a hybrid program. We offer bachelor's degrees
and master's degrees in pharmaceutical sciences. We are a research
institute and we are a business development center. So our goal is
to also create jobs. The impact of biotech in North Carolina has
been tremendous. 227,000 jobs have been created as a result of the
biotech industry.
Reginald Holt: When I first heard about the BRITE Program, I
really wasn't interested in going back to school. I really wanted
to find a better job. And then Linda Love helped me to make that
connection between how an education would be a vehicle to get me
from where I was to where I wanted to be.
Linda Love: We have a program where the curriculum has been
developed collaboratively with industry. And that our faculty have
worked in this business. We need a program like BRITE because in
order for us to encourage companies to move to North Carolina, or
the existing companies to expand, they need talent. And the goal
is to home-grow the talent so that people will stay in their
communities to work. And that is what's happening. BRITE has been
very successful in placing our graduates, partly because the
required internship is the way into the company.
Reggie Holt: I can remember when I got the email from Merck after
the internship offering me a job. I was really excited, it was a
great time. My wife, she started to cry. You know, I couldn't
believe it. I said, it paid off. I felt like they really prepared
me to hit the ground running. That was one of the missions of the
school and I felt like I was able to contribute right away when I
started working there.
Linda: What the companies are telling me is that, "Linda, your
students are coming in ready to work." That's what I want to hear.