New Hampshire Life Sciences Firms Linked Growth to UNH
As workforce needs rise, firms and educators are building talent pipelines to fill roles at companies like Lonza.
Updated on Sept. 25, 2026 in Internships
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Following a September 9, 2026, summit at the University of New Hampshire, educators and industry leaders highlighted strategies to bridge a growing labor gap. The initiative seeks to align academic programming with the rapid expansion of the state's life sciences sector.
Why it matters
The sector's 24% employment growth since 2019 has outpaced traditional talent production, forcing firms to establish closer relationships with universities. These partnerships aim to reduce recruitment friction and ensure that students are prepared for specific, high-growth technical roles.
Life sciences employment grew 24% from 2019 to 2025, significantly outpacing the 4% growth in New Hampshire's private sector. Over 50 firms now recruit from UNH, where Lonza alone currently employs 2,400 people with plans to add 300 to 400 more by the end of 2027.
The players
University of New Hampshire
A state research university serving as a primary talent hub for the regional biotechnology and life sciences labor market.
Lonza
A global contract manufacturing and development organization that maintains a major production facility in Portsmouth.
Pirouette Pharma
A pharmaceutical developer that implements rotational training programs to integrate new hires into product development workflows.
The details
Companies are shifting from reactive hiring to proactive collaboration by embedding themselves into the academic environment. UNH is constructing The Edge, a 43-acre project designed to house research facilities that cater to specific corporate technical needs. Meanwhile, firms like Pirouette Pharma are utilizing structured rotations that expose new hires to the full product development lifecycle immediately upon joining.
Timeline
2019 to 2025 saw a 24% increase in life sciences employment.
Spring 2026 marked the groundbreaking for The Edge project.
September 9, 2026, was the date of the Empower Life Sciences event at UNH.
The end of 2027 is the target date for Lonza to hire up to 400 additional staff.
Market Landscape
The push to integrate industrial needs with academic output follows a pattern of regional clusters attempting to mitigate labor shortages. This effort mirrors a broader trend of companies formalizing long-term feedback loops with universities to secure talent in highly specialized fields.
Operators in high-growth sectors should consider if their current hiring pipeline relies too heavily on generic job boards rather than direct academic partnerships. Evaluate whether your firm could benefit from participating in formal feedback loops to influence local training programs before talent is hired by competitors.
The takeaway
The rapid expansion of the life sciences sector suggests that proximity to academic institutions is becoming a critical competitive advantage for recruitment. Business leaders should monitor the development of The Edge to determine if physical co-location could streamline their own technical training and hiring requirements.
Further reading
For more on building talent pipelines, explore our coverage of Internships.
Source note: This article includes information reported by NH Business Review.
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