A bill clearing the way for San Diego's colleges and universities to jointly provide ongoing training to the area's biotechnology work force passed the Legislature this week and awaits the signature of Gov. Gray Davis.

The bill, AB 1551, written by San Diego Assemblywoman Christine Kehoe and sponsored by Biocom, San Diego's biotech industry organization, would create the San Diego Multiuse Biotechnology Training Center by combining resources already in use at area schools.

"The center will be a valuable asset in attracting new biotech and medical-device companies to the region, growing those currently located here and creating high-paying jobs," Biocom President Joe Panetta said.

While training programs already exist through different universities and the San Diego Workforce Partnership, they are scattered.

"The challenge we've found over the years is that we have three systems of education that work independently of each other," Panetta said, referring to state and private universities and community colleges. "Boundaries exist between the various systems that don't make it easy for them to want to work together."

Area workers would benefit and resources could be used better if there was a way to offer one-stop shopping for ongoing training, Panetta said.

Biocom and the Workforce Partnership lobbied for the creation of a building that would house a training center and bypass the territorial obstacles, Panetta said.

That idea evolved into the proposal for the training center, which the universities and community colleges will fund with help from private industry to combine and coordinate their efforts, he said.

"We are very pleased to be working on this project," said Lawrence Fitch, chief executive of the San Diego Workforce Partnership. "It promises to be a great benefit to both job seekers and employers."

Training in manufacturing, quality assurance and bio-informatics would be some of the more obvious issues addressed by the training center, Panetta said. As more companies move from research to manufacturing and the big pharmaceutical companies increase their presence in the area, there will be a need to provide continuing education to people whose skills need to be upgraded or workers who are transitioning into a different area of biotechnology, he said.

At first, the training center may exist just on paper, allowing the supporting organizations to develop a joint curriculum based on evolving science and needs of the community, Panetta said. It also will give them a united front when seeking federal job-training dollars, he said.

The idea of an new, stand-alone structure will remain a dream for better economic times, Panetta said.

"The training center presents a unique opportunity to bring industry, labor, and public resources together," said Kehoe, D-San Diego. "Biotechnology companies and their workers are a vital component in the region's economy. Recognizing the center and removing any barriers in law is a first step toward seeing the training center become a reality."