Cybertraps Podcast

[00:00:00] Welcome to the cyber traps podcast. I am Jethro Jones. Your host. You can find me on all the social networks at Jethro Jones. The cyber chaps podcast is a proud member. Of the be podcast network. You can see all of our shows at two B podcast. dot network. And today on the show we have. A special interview from the inch 360 conference.

That's the inland Northwest cybersecurity hub. They put on a conference each year and I have the great fortune of being able to go. Go to that conference. And interview a bunch of people. So that's what you're going to hear on this episode. I hope you enjoy it. And if you want. To learn more about inch 360, go to inch 360 dot O R G.

Michelle, welcome to the Cyber Traps podcast. Thank you for being here. We're here at the Inch 360 Conference and, on the beautiful Gonzaga campus. behind us, we've got this beautiful soccer field. It's blocked by this, uh. This fabric first. [00:01:00] Yeah, but it's kind of fun to watch them out there playing and, and it's a beautiful day.

So, we would like to chat about, uh, Evergreen and what you guys do. So why don't you start by describing what Evergreen Biosciences is and, and what you're doing here.

Thanks so much. Evergreen Bioscience Innovation Cluster is a modern innovation cluster, meaning that we are industry led.

So we seek the insights of industry members about the problems that they can't solve in house within their companies. And then based on those responses, we aggregate them. those and pull in our other stakeholders which are academia, government, capital, entrepreneurs and other industry members to take an ecosystem resolution approach.

So problems that we try to help solve include talent, capital, taking a look at policy and infrastructure issues. Those type of bigger [00:02:00] ecosystem, directives, the type of bioscience companies that we work with and for, as they are our members, really are around the contract services, so contract manufacturing, contract research, and contract development.

Our goal is to make Eastern Washington and the region a magnet for the future. for the companies that provide and consume these type of contract services in the biosciences.

So for people who aren't familiar, what does that mean, biosciences, specifically? And so is that agriculture or is that, uh, tell me more about what biosciences is specifically.

There are a lot of different definitions, so that is a great question. For us, we're really looking at the med device and pharmaceutical sectors. Some of our target industry members are folks like Jubilant Hollister Stare, who is in Spokane, and ALK, and they are an allergen, company in [00:03:00] Post Falls, Selkirk Pharma, but we also work with companies throughout the state of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Utah, and have recently done events in Seattle and Bozeman, Montana, and have taken follow up trips in Montana to identify the ways that we as an I 90 corridor can help improve the growth of those type of bioscience businesses.

And so why a cyber security conference and what's the interest and the value to you being here and part of this?

Bioscience companies, like a lot of different companies, have cybersecurity vulnerabilities. These can include, from their product and manufacturing, the QA, QC roles, so the chain of custody of the products, as well as the supply chain, especially now that we've seen some more on shoring of different supply chain partners.

It can also include the client [00:04:00] orders. So, for example, Jubilant Hollister Stare has an error rate of one in a billion because if they have an error in their pharmaceutical products that go out, it can dramatically impact someone's life. So these are areas where the automation pieces as well as the inputs and outputs are highly regulated but also vulnerable.

to Cybersecurity Threats. So that is just one aspect of it. The other aspect is their regulatory compliance and auditing. And so it creates a great opportunity to work within a cybersecurity conference. The other part is, is obviously being hosted on Gonzaga and co sponsored by Eastern Washington University.

But which I'll give a shout out, they are an Evergreen BIO member. it's a great opportunity to talk about the talent issues that some of our bioscience [00:05:00] companies have. A lot of times whenever folks are thinking of bioscience companies, they're only thinking of the scientists and the manufacturing staff.

But companies have a broad swath of employment needs, and this is one way we can also serve our member companies.

Yeah, that's, that's really fascinating. And so there's, there's a lot of challenges that companies are facing. There's a lot of regulatory, talent, capital, all these different things that are pushing on them, and being able to coordinate, but then thinking like there's also the cyber security thing that they're likely not even thinking about trying to not worry about, even though they have to.

because that's not the business that they're in. They're in the business of creating products to save people's lives. And, that's really annoying to have to deal with that, right? and so what are some of the, the reasons or the ways that you help them?

with this kind of stuff. because I imagine that you're probably not [00:06:00] the, cyber security expert, but you probably have some information. So what are some of the ways that you help as a collective group?

So part of what I'm doing is the awareness piece of it. Um, awareness on both sides as I'm posting within our channels and our newsletter, awareness to the businesses that are our member companies or potential member companies to let them know that events like this happen and who are the people.

That were here as far as vendors and speakers that they might be interested in touching base with. But the other piece of it is to, as I'm sitting in a cybersecurity conference with my table that says Evergreen Bio to trigger the thought for the cybersecurity professionals. to say that, um, hey, bioscience is a potential customer for you as well.

this is what their issues might look like. and especially, like I say, coming back to that, we're [00:07:00] on a college campus and we have a number of students in the audience that This is maybe a sector of, uh, employment that you might be interested in. And on that, um, Evergreen Bio has, grants that they're issuing for bioscience companies that are creating an inaugural internship program.

program. Um, the deadline for applications is October 6th. Um, and we have four 2, 000 grants for the companies to pilot their new internship program. One of the requirements is to to attend an internship, uh, development program and Greater Spokane Inc. has one of those that is scheduled for October 17th.

And so being able to talk with the students about that, but then also knowing that it's the bioscience companies that I'm filtering into, uh, that same workshop on the employer side is going to make for a bunch of nice connections.

[00:08:00] Really fascinating. And the thing that, that I'm taking away from this conference are is twofold.

Number one, a lot of it is about awareness and being aware of what is out there. And number two is that we're so very interconnected on so many different things and that Even if biosciences may not be the thing that I am personally interested in or have any expertise in, there are some things that we share in common that we need to pay attention to.

And, you know, cybersecurity is one of those things that does affect each one of us. So, how can people get in touch more with you and with Evergreen Biosciences Innovation Cluster? All together. Did I say that right? Because I was worried about that.

You nailed it. We shortened it to Evergreen Bio for our colloquial use.

Um, but you definitely nailed it. So to get in contact with us, you can find us on the web at evergreenbio. com. Um, we have a contact page [00:09:00] there. Otherwise, you can find me on LinkedIn. Um, my first name is M I C H N. A E L E, last name is Armstrong, and I'm literally the only one on there. So, um, it'll be easy to find me.

Feel free to reach out and connect to learn more about whatever GreenBio does, and how we can support and integrate in that ecosystem. So, if you're within the capital, the governmental, entrepreneur, or academic or other industry spaces because again, service providers are part of the solutions as well.

Thank you so much for being part of the Cyber Travis podcast and part of Inj360. Michelle. Thank you.