< Previous60 MAY 2021 S I T E S EL E C T I O N LIFE SCIENCES HEALTHY PORTFOLIO: AN ARRAY OF LIFE SCIENCES COMPANIES FIND COSTA RICA TO BE A TRUE ‘LIFE-CENTERED’ HUB If you’re looking for trends in inward investment by major employers, it can help to look at what’s being shipped outward. When Costa Rican export fi gures for January were released, they showed healthy diversifi cation by sector and by destination regions. ey also showed continuing growth in life sciences, with precision and medical equipment accounting for % of all exports, and showing a % rise in value over the previous January. Leading the way in the growth are prosthetics for medical use, catheters and other devices. But big pharma is engaged too: AstraZeneca recently inaugurated its new head offi ce in Costa Rica following a US$ million investment. e corporation announced that it would add new positions in , for a total of . Also amidst the pandemic, Roche doubled its operation in the country to reach people. e Roche team provides end-to-end integral and strategic solutions to the Roche Pharmaceutical and Diagnostic divisions all over the Americas in areas such as fi nance, People & Culture (previously human resources), purchasing and IT. “It excites us a great deal to announce the expansion of our People Support Solutions area that only joined our operations in May ,” said Héctor Feliú, general manager of Roche Services & Solutions, at the announcement in March . “We reaffi rm that talent is the greatest driving force for growth that makes it possible for us to continue off ering high-value-added services that are increasingly sophisticated and that make our portfolio robust. All this results in and contributes to our global purpose of improving the quality of life for patients around the world from Costa Rica.” e jobs are not direct life sciences jobs, but they are jobs for a life sciences leader. And they’re directly about life: Roche extols the diversity and inclusion of its team, with over diff erent 62 MAY 2021 S I T E S EL E C T I O N nationalities. Additionally, more than % of the employees are older than , and women occupy % of the leadership positions. ese companies’ reasons are many, but they might be best summed up by the slogan of one of the growing companies themselves, Viant: “ e Perfect Combination: Big-Company Resources. Small-Company Attention.” In Costa Rica, you get big-time talent in a friendly, community-centered environment. Massachusetts-based medical device company Viant in April announced it had completed a major expansion of its manufacturing facility in a free trade zone in Heredia, adding cleanroom molding and assembly space and repurposing other space to introduce new molding capabilities to the liquid silicone rubber molding capability added in . e expansion will add up to jobs in Heredia by the end of . Also in April, orthodontic medical device company Byte announced it will hire more people in Costa Rica due to the growth of the local operation. at will add to a workforce of that started as just four people less than two years ago in June . “Costa Rica has a very attractive talent pool in this industry,” said Pablo Rojas, general manager of Byte. “Additionally, there is an interest of people to get involved in projects based on innovation, with diff erent work schemes, organization, opportunities and inclusion, not only for those who participate within the company, but for those who are providing a service, there is a lot of interest for learning and making a diff erence.” In March, Viatris, created by the merger of Upjohn and Mylan in and now the sixth largest pharma company in the world with more than , employees, announced a $. million investment to launch operations in Costa Rica at a new regional HQ. “We are standard-bearers of public health, and Costa Rica, a country with a global and supportive health system, such as the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social, and with fi rst-level public health indexes, is the natural choice for a company like Viatris,” said Patrick Doyle, Viatris leader for LATAM. “As standard bearers of accessible health, collaboration and leadership, we found in your country a like-minded ally.” Mid-market medical device contract manufacturer Biomerics in February announced the doubling of its manufacturing footprint at the Zeta Free Zone in Cartago. e expansion is via a new, ,-sq.-ft. (,-sq.-m.) greenfi eld plant adjacent to Biomerics current operations, and includes extrusion, injection molding, micro metal processing, and cleanroom assembly process. Biomerics currently employs people at a smaller facility focused on extrusion, laser processing, high volume assembly and packaging. e expansion is in support of active transfer programs with strategic customers and is expected to double the number of Costa Rican employees over the next three years. “ is expansion is in line with our vision to be the leading interventional contract manufacturer,” said Travis Sessions, Biomerics CEO. “Customers have requested that we build a vertically integrated operation in Costa Rica to provide cost-eff ective, high-volume manufacturing for the interventional market.” MicroVention Makes Major Investment Among the biggest investors of all, however, is U.S.-Japanese company MicroVention-Terumo, which is investing $ million to construct a new ,-sq.-m. (,-sq.-ft.) plant in the Coyol Free Zone in Alajuela that will create , new jobs. e project is recognized by Site Selection as one of the Top International Deals of . e company, whose U.S. operations have also been expanding to a new headquarters in California, fi rst launched operations in Costa Rica in , and already employs , at two manufacturing plants dedicated to creating medical devices used in endovascular therapies for the treatment of vascular and brain diseases. “Microvention began operations in Costa Rica more than seven years ago and has recognized the great potential of our family of workers and managers, as well as manufacturing associates,” We rea rm that talent is the greatest driving force for growth that makes it possible for us to continue o ering high-value-added services that are increasingly sophisticated and that make our portfolio robust.” — Héctor Feliú, G M, Roche Services & Solutions, at the company’s March 2021 expansion announcement in San José We rea rm that talent is the greatest 64 MAY 2021 S I T E S EL E C T I O N said Charlie Noel, vice president of International Operations at MicroVention. “Our success in Costa Rica has allowed MicroVention to grow in what is our third expansion in the country. Today our strategic vision drives us to close 2022 with nearly 35,000 square meters [376,750 sq. ft.) in manufacturing areas and 3,000 employees. We are very proud to export medical products from Costa Rica all over the world, in addition to helping patients have a better quality of life.” At the announcement, Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado, who weeks before had held a meeting with senior officials of the company, thanked them for their confidence. After reiterating the government’s support for FDI and the Free Trade Zone regime, Alvarado saluted the great impact that a third plant and 2,000 more jobs will have on quality employment, and highlighted the inter-institutional work that has been carried out, and that will be strengthened with a new law designed to train Costa Ricans so that they have greater opportunities to enter the labor market. Through that law, CINDE, the National Training Institute (INA) and the companies of the Costa Rican life science cluster are pursuing a joint training initiative that already provided training in strategic areas for 500 employees of medical companies, boosting their professional development and the country’s competitiveness. Employees from Allergan, Bayer, Boston Scientific, CooperVision, Edwards, Freudenberg, Moog, Nellipak, Philips and Tegra were trained in medical manufacturing, occupational health, waste management and first aid. The majority of training was provided virtually. Digital Opportunity That’s not the only human resources tool at companies’ disposal. Recently the Code Recruitment and Training Institute together with Coyol Free Zone founded the Coyol Academy project, a digital platform that gives people the opportunity to train on issues related to the medical industry from the comfort of their homes and with any type of device (cell phone, tablet or computer). “Academia Coyol offers its first digital course for people who wish to opt for the position of Manufacturing Operator in Coyol Free Zone,” said Carolina Zamora, manager of After-Sales Services at Coyol Free Zone. This course will provide them with knowledge that can influence their performance and generate many successes in their hiring processes.” The first course, “Introduction to the Medical Device Industry,” is now available at Academia Coyol, and those who complete it 100% and pass the evaluations are given the opportunity to remain in a database available to all park companies. “The year 2020 was an extremely challenging one, and the pandemic impacted countries, companies, entrepreneurs, and all people in general,” observed Costa Rica Minister of Foreign Trade Andrés Valenciano. “However, one of the great tasks we have faced has been how to turn those threats into opportunities. Today, Coyol Free Zone shows us how to adapt to this new normal and provide opportunities for growth and training to many people. Likewise, we highlight the importance of Costa Ricans being able to continue on the path of constant and permanent learning, as well as seeking learning opportunities to enter the knowledge economy. We strongly urge people to enroll in these programs and enhance their employability possibilities through free, quality online training.” Coyol Free Zone also is working with FUNDATEC to bring to virtuality a series of courses that will be focused on acquiring new applied knowledge in the medical industry. Coyol Free Zone holds a strong concentration of medtech companies in Costa Rica, amounting to more than $2 billion a year, accounting for 58% of exports from the country’s entire free trade zone regime’s manufacturing sector. The 2,000-job MicroVention expansion coming to Coyol Free Zone is one of Site Selection’s Top Deals of 2020. Image courtesy of MicroVention66 MAY 2021 S I T E S EL E C T I O N LIFELONG LEARNING IS THE BEATING HEART OF PROSPERITY … AND RECOVERY Over the course of , CINDE implemented a series of educational initiatives, either as the main organizer or as a partner, geared at training the talent needed for the new knowledge economy. Among the most head-turning is a partnership announced in June with the online learning company Coursera, which provided grants for , Costa Ricans. e partnership brought together one of the world’s most dynamic countries and a leading online learning platform for higher education that includes million learners and more than of the world’s top universities and industry educators. Coursera Workforce Recovery is an initiative that seeks to help unemployed individuals by providing them with free access to % of the courses and certifi cations available on the platform. e process was carried out over the balance of through an agreement with the Costa Rican government and is part of the eff orts to mitigate the impacts of COVID- while also providing training for Costa Ricans in the highest-demand areas for industry .. Areas of study included digital, strategic, and technical skills, including programming, cybersecurity, sustainability, blockchain, artifi cial intelligence, entrepreneurship, and data science, among others. ere were , courses completed in , and $, in Coursera grants awarded, based on -plus learning paths CINDE designed within Coursera based on the insights and requierements that investing companies indicated. e participation rate in the Coursera program in was %, vs. the average usage rate worldwide of .%. “ e pandemic has aff ected hundreds of millions of jobs around the world, including the livelihoods of many Costa Ricans,” said Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO of Coursera, last summer. “We are proud to partner with President Alvarado, CINDE, the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Foreign Aff airs to provide displaced workers with access to job- relevant skills needed to reenter the workforce.” “ is project is the fi rst of many we expect to carry out in collaboration with Coursera over the coming years,” said CINDE Managing Director Jorge Sequeira. “Its implementation reinforces the country’s commitment to innovate and provide a favorable climate for local and foreign investment, with a human talent trained both in digital areas and in strategic skills for employability.” “According to the World Economic Forum, Costa Rica is the Latin American leader for human capital ratios and digital skills, which make the successful implementation of platforms like Coursera a natural fi t,” said CINDE. “In addition, the country stands out for its dynamic ecosystem of multinational companies and local businesses, which together promote skill- development initiatives in their workforce, as a response to the current crisis.” EDUCA TION & TRAINING Je Maggioncalda S I T E S E L E C T I O N MAY 2021 67 S I T E S E L E C T I O N MAY 2021 67 • CINDE acted as a support agency for the Innovation and Human Capital for Competitiveness Program from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Telecommunications (MICITT) in the implementation of highly specialized STEM training. To date, 2,023 applications (29% women) have been received for the bootcamp program. • As part of its digital transformation talent strategy, CINDE also has launched a communications campaign to motivate professionals from a variety of companies to acquire and develop new skills in high-demand areas of the economy. There are currently 1,300 people enrolled in training. • In partnership with Fundación Gente, over 10,500 people received training on issues relating to administration, technology and education, vocational orientation and project management. Participants included board members, school principals and teachers from throughout the country. • A review of Ministry of Public Education (MEP) curriculum in professional vocational high schools validated curriculum updates for industry 4.0 in the areas of technical specialties in network technology and software. The work was performed by MEP, Fundación Omar Dengo, CINDE and the private sector, and a new technical specialization in cybersecurity was created. “In addition, an information collecting exercise is planned to identify the abilities, knowledge and skills that employers require from graduates,” says CINDE, “which will help in updating and validating study plans and technical specializations. These processes seek to ensure that students enter the workforce with an academic training that meets the latest industry requirements.” • The Smart Mentors program, a corporate volunteer program, has engaged 144 volunteers benefi ting 3,673 students. • Meanwhile, the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) partnered with CINDE to provide training to the country’s rapidly expanding medical device manufacturers. • The Gender, Education and Technology (GET) program was created with the goal of promoting careers in STEAM and women’s involvement in the knowledge economy. As part of the program, Arizona State University (ASU), in collaboration with CINDE and its member multinational companies based in Costa Rica, has worked to coordinate the project Women in Engineering Projects in Community Service (WEPICS). This initiative seeks to inspire high school students to pursue careers in STEAM through an innovative project- based study plan in which they are challenged to solve real-world problems in their communities using science and engineering. A COMPLETE ACADEMIC SCHEDULENext >