Jennifer Sereno: Expansion plans at Exact Sciences highlight value of new DWD worker training program

This is an excerpt from a column posted at BizOpinion.

With plans for a major clinical testing laboratory in Madison and FDA review underway on its
novel colon cancer screening test, Exact Sciences holds significant potential to
accelerate the region’s economy.

Kevin Conroy, company president and CEO, says the award of two Wisconsin Fast Forward
training grants earlier this month will help the company achieve its next milestone. The funds
for Exact Sciences and some two dozen other recent grantees are part of a major initiative
by the state Department of Workforce Development under Secretary Reggie Newson to
complement existing technical training programs and channel new skills into Wisconsin’s
workforce.

“The concept of a skills pipeline is an important one,” Conroy says. “We’re appreciative that
state government is focused on helping companies become more competitive in the global
economy.”

Gov. Scott Walker signed the Wisconsin Fast Forward program into law in March 2013 following
its near-unanimous approval by the Legislature. Under the program, companies match the
state training funds at levels ranging from 50 cents up to one dollar for every dollar received,
depending on the specific grant. The next round of applications for funding totaling $7.5 million
will open March 1 with information sessions scheduled statewide to encourage participation.

In the case of Exact Sciences, the two grants totaling $325,106 will be used to train more than
200 new employees to launch the colon cancer screening facility. The expanded operation will
require a variety of high-level skills and the first grant will help train lab technicians in sample
preparation and shipping, operation of the robotic screening systems and use of new software
to generate lab reports.

The second grant will help train another group from the pool of new hires to work in a contact
center assisting physicians with ordering tests and retrieving results from a Web portal. While
many of the new employees may come equipped with training from various technical college
programs, the unique nature of the Exact Sciences technology, robotic specimen processing and
physician interface will require training at a level not currently available in the state.

Read the full column for more