July 21, 2025

Novo Nordisk in Johnston County: How a Danish Powerhouse is Transforming Local Lives and Futures

Transcription

Jonathan Breeden: [00:00:00] On this week’s episode of The Best of Johnston County Podcast, we have our second conversation with Stacy Beard of Novo Nordisk as one of the communications directors there. And in this episode we talk about what the history of Novo Nordisk, how it came to Johnston County, the first expansion, which was $2 billion. The second expansion, which they’re working on right now, which is gonna be over $4 billion by the time it’s done. How? Novo Nordisk employs over 2000 people in the triangle right now.

And the new expansion, which will be done between 2027 and 2029 will take their employment numbers to almost 3000 people in this area of Johnston County and some employees in Durham. We also talked to her a little bit about how you can get a job at Novo and how they’re always hiring and they love to hire people from Johnston County to work there.

It’s not nearly as doning or as taxing as you think. You could start by taking an intro to BioWorks class. They’re now even offering in the high schools in Johnston County. So if you’re [00:01:00] interested in Novo Nordisk, the drugs it provides, where it’s going, where it’s been, I think you will find this podcast extremely interesting because she answers all of those questions.

Welcome to another episode of Best of Johnston County, brought to you by Breeden Law Office. Our host, Jonathan Breeden, an experienced family lawyer with a deep connection to the community, is ready to take you on a journey through the area that he has called home for over 20 years. Whether it’s a deep dive into the love locals have for the county or unraveling the complexities of family law, Best of Johnston County presents an authentic slice of this unique community.

Jonathan Breeden: Hello and welcome to another edition of The Best of Johnston County Podcast. I’m your host, Jonathan Breeden.

And on today’s episode, we have our second interview with Stacy Beard, who is in communications with the Novo Nordisk Plant in Clayton, North Carolina. On this episode, we’re gonna dig into sort of the history of Novo Nordisk the first expansion, now we have a second expansion.

Some of the things they do with the [00:02:00] GLP-1 drugs and the thing how they’re needing employees, how you can apply and how you might go about working at Novo Nordisk. And of course. What she loves most about Johnston County. You can go back and listen to the first episode a few weeks ago where we talked to her about her career in broadcast journalism.

Many of you remember her as a reporter with WRAL from 2008 to 2013. We also talked about her time as the public information officer for the Town of Clayton from 2013 to 2021, and how she got her start with Novo Nordisk about 18 months to two years ago. So if you wanna hear her talk about that, go back and list this one that episode that ran a couple weeks ago.

This episode is gonna be more focused solely on Novo Nordisk and what it is doing in our community. It is a tremendous organization, and depending on which day of the week it is, it is one of the largest companies in the world and the largest company in Europe, depending on what the stock price happens to be, and one of their largest manufacturing bases in the world is right here in Clayton, North Carolina making some of the most life-changing drugs the world has [00:03:00] ever seen. And you can be a part of that and your neighbors are a part of it right now, and we want you to know about that. Welcome, Stacy.

Stacy Beard: Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Jonathan Breeden: No problem. And I forgot to say before we get to this. We would you to like follow and subscribe to the podcast wherever you’re seeing it.

Stacy Beard: Yes.

Jonathan Breeden: So anyway. So alright, state you name and what you do?

Stacy Beard: All right. So I’m Stacy Beard. A lot of people know me as Stacy Davis ’cause that’s who I was when I was at WRAL. I got married after I was a reporter there and didn’t change my name ’cause of all the, you know, everything else would need to be changed.

But started working at Novo Nordisk about a year and a half ago. Was not looking for a job, knew, ’cause I’ve lived in Johnston County for 17 years. I knew there was this plant down, you know, a road there was something on 70 and they did something with plasma and that’s Grifols now. But it wasn’t Grifols when I first came here.

Right. And then Novo Nordisk was down the road. I think there was like a bull on their sign and I think they did something with diabetes. Right. That’s about all I knew.

Jonathan Breeden: That’s about [00:04:00] what I knew.

Stacy Beard: Yeah. And, and

Jonathan Breeden: 10 years ago, that’s about why?

Stacy Beard: That is, right. Well, obviously Novo Nordisk is world known now and definitely in the Lime Night Danish company, right? Very humble, right? Don’t like to brag. I think that’s in part why you didn’t hear a lot about Novo Nordisk. They just quietly made diabetes medications for people around the world there for the last 30 years. And then they had this explosion in obesity treatments right out of their research. And now they’ve been sort of thrust into the limelight.

And because we are, as you said, we are one of the largest companies in the world, but in Johnston County, we are the largest private employer. Right? So outside of the school district, we employ more people in Johnston County than anybody else. And there’s an obligation to the community. And so they needed somebody to help talk to the community, to connect with the community and to help tell the Novo Nordisk story that we’re here, that we’re growing, that we’re here to [00:05:00] stay. And we’re hiring. We’re hiring, we’re hiring, we’re hiring. Right. I’m supposed to look at the camera when I say that now.

Jonathan Breeden: Right. You’re always hiring.

Stacy Beard: But yeah. But the growth has been incredible. We have doubled our workforce, obviously in the time that we’ve been here and are continuing to, with the new expansion that we announced. Almost a year ago, almost a year ago, June. And it’s just been incredible.

Jonathan Breeden: It’s unbelievable. And we’re very fortunate that Novo chose Johnston County.

Stacy Beard: Yes.

Jonathan Breeden: For the first expansion 10 years ago. And that they chose it for the second expansion a year ago. Because it adds so many, it adds a ton to the tax base, you know, the property tax value of the first expansion at $2 billion. And I think when the time they got done it was more than $2 billion

Stacy Beard: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm

Jonathan Breeden: was larger than the entire tax base of the town of Clayton at the time they announced it. And I don’t know how much the investment in the second expansion is, but it’s more than 2 billion.

Stacy Beard: Yeah. It’s 4.1 billion,

Jonathan Breeden: 4.1 billion.

Stacy Beard: And that’s [00:06:00] an incredible statement. You know, again, broke the record for largest life sciences investment in the state history, and I think Novo Nordisk.

You know, they wanted to enter the, the US market with manufacturing. That’s what brought them here in the nineties. But I think once they got here, they realized that being in this life sciences, there’s, there’s more than 830 life sciences companies in the triangle area being part of that ecosystem and then the workforce development that is around that, you know, we need to talk about those.

Incredible, and you’ve talked about ’em on your show. Incredible partnerships with the community college, with Johnston Community College. Our relationship, Nova’s relationship with them is 20 plus years almost since the time we got on the ground. You know, we built the Workforce Development Center, you know, that Workforce pipeline support.

Of course we’re gonna build another plant here because we have the foundation for employees to be trained up to work in the [00:07:00] facilities and make these medicines that are, you know, shipped all over the world. So I really think that North Carolina. It’s Novo’s Home to Stay. It is the largest US manufacturing footprint for our company in all of the United States, and it will continue to be.

Jonathan Breeden: Well, and we’re part of Johnston County and this region as part of this thing called the BioPharma Crescent. And I was on the economic development committee there with Chris Johnson for a couple of years and I became extremely aware of how important that is about the, all the other life sciences in the area. And, you know, it sort of grows on itself.

Stacy Beard: Yes.

Jonathan Breeden: And there are all these companies and there’s gonna be more life sciences companies coming.

Stacy Beard: Oh yes.

Jonathan Breeden: Be more life sciences, manufacturing. I know that there’s talk of there being some life sciences on the back of the copper district, I guess in Clayton whenever they finally build that right there at Interstate 42 and 40 [00:08:00] Highway 42, which is now Highway 36 Veterans Parkway.

That’s right across from the hospital in Clayton. You know, they keep changing the names. I, you know, in the next 10 years, I, I think we’ll see that conference district get developed. It’s gonna look a lot like North Hills. I know y’all like, that’s crazy, but it will look a lot like North Hills.

I’ve seen the drawings but the backside of it has manufacturing areas and I think they’re trying to recruit life sciences to it. And so, I mean, it’s not going to stop with just Novo and Grifols in this area. I think it’s gonna continue to grow.

Stacy Beard: Yeah. And I think, I think we embrace that. I don’t know how other companies feel but you know, people probably view it as, oh, that’s competition.

No, it’s just bringing that, all those support businesses around us but also the workforce and you know we welcome obviously all the life sciences and really try to support that ecosystem.

Jonathan Breeden: Well, and I think that’s important. And you know, I mean, Novo has, I mean, I don’t know. I mean, they kind of hit the jackpot with these is it

Stacy Beard: [00:09:00] GLP-1.

Jonathan Breeden: GLP-1.

Stacy Beard: Yes.

Jonathan Breeden: You know, to help with the obesity Ozempic and Wegovy. And they’ve sort of been the leader in that. And they’re still working on those. And there’s more in the pipeline. I think like once it’s sort of got figured out, like everybody’s working on it, them and all the other companies.

Stacy Beard: Yeah. And that’s what’s fascinating me the most. Being new to pharma and new to, you know, a foreign owned company is, you know, Novo Nordisk is a hundred year old company and it really was a love story that brought Novo Nordisk to life.

It was a husband and wife the husband was an animal biologist and got the Nobel Prize.

And so he was about to go on his Nobel Prize like speaking tour. And learned about the University of Canada, Toronto was doing this research well, his wife who was a doctor and a female doctor at those times in the 19, you know, [00:10:00] hundreds was out of this world. She basically self-diagnosed herself with diabetes.

And at the time, I mean, diabetes was a death sentence. It was young children getting it. And the only way to treat it was, I mean, but what doctors would tell you was something called a starvation diet where you just, I mean, it was horrible. And there was, there was no insulin and they had discovered insulin at the University of Canada.

And, and on this tour, he met those doctors. He convinced them, could we take this over to Scandinavia and try to scale it up there because you’re gonna, you know, try to bring it here to North America. We have people suffering over there and when he got back, he and his wife and and her doctor got to work trying to figure out how do we make insulin?

And, and that’s where it started. It’s and for a hundred plus years, you know, we have [00:11:00] been more than 50% of the insulin market providing providing these medicines for people with diabetes, which unfortunately is a population of people that’s growing and growing. But those were the humble beginnings of Novo Nordisk.

Again, they came to Johnston County in the nineties, still very much diabetes that was, and it still is mostly what we make in our facilities medicines for diet folks with diabetes. But yes, we’re at a time in this company. With exponential potential they have the next wave of GLP-1 research behind that.

And after that, and the pipeline is exciting and, and like you said, all these companies are trying to innovate based on these breakthroughs and they’re just coming like this. It’s just unbelievable that that innovation, but lots of research and development going in into that, all across the world. We’re, we’re not doing the research and development here in North Carolina.

We’re all manufacturing plants. Almost three now. Right. This, the third one [00:12:00] being built facilities and then one in Durham. But we have a research and development hub in Boston, and we have our corporate headquarters in New Jersey. And we have some folks in California doing research too. But the, yeah, what’s coming down the pipe will probably blow our minds just as much.

Jonathan Breeden: Right. Well, and we don’t know what AI is gonna do either, you.

Stacy Beard: That’s right, that’s right.

Jonathan Breeden: I mean, and, and I’m sure that’s. I, I don’t doubt that Novo would be,

Stacy Beard: we’re having to embrace it. Yes. Right.

Jonathan Breeden: They’re embracing it as well. And yeah. It’s, it’s, I mean, I really hope that in five years they can cure cancer.

Stacy Beard: Yeah.

Jonathan Breeden: I mean, you know, I’m, I’m hoping that these machines,

Stacy Beard: I know

Jonathan Breeden: with all of the information that they can process. We’ll come up with an answer for cancer. And, and I think they may, I think there’s a real shot that, that these AI machines will be able to do that just like these GLP-1 have helped with obesity and, and I’ve watched it make transformational changes for people.

I know you know, people that I work with, family members, like it really is amazing what they can do and how much a [00:13:00] better life people can live because that drug exists.

Have family law questions? Need guidance to navigate legal challenges? The compassionate team at Breeden Law Office is here to help. Visit us at www. breedenfirm. com for practical advice, resources, or to book a consultation. Remember, when life gets messy, you don’t have to face it alone.

Jonathan Breeden: Now, one question I have is kind of once you start on it often you kind of just stay on it, you know what I mean? I guess it’ll help you change your lifestyle, but I don’t know if you know anything about people transitioning off of it or.

Stacy Beard: Well, you know, diabetes and obesity, they are chronic diseases. So you have them your entire life unless you are doing something to help treat them. So gotta talk to your doctor about, can I come off of it? Can I go on something different? I can’t speak to that, but Novo Nordisk has always been dedicated to these chronic diseases. And are finding that, you know, some of the [00:14:00] medications that they make have benefits for other chronic diseases, heart and kidney diseases.

And so definitely talking to your doctor if you’re having, you know, these issues as to, you know, how can this medication help me and how long do I have to be on it? Understanding that from the start right is very important. Obviously, people with diabetes. There’s no cure. You’ve got to have insulin for, you know, type one you know, diabetes, you’ve got to have it right. So, so that’s.

Jonathan Breeden: Yeah, absolutely. You’re right. Right. And you gotta watch what you eat and all that good stuff.

Stacy Beard: Mm-hmm. All that. Yeah.

Jonathan Breeden: So how many employees does Novo have?

Stacy Beard: So,

Jonathan Breeden: in this area it’s like lot.

Stacy Beard: In Johnston County we have over 2000, right. Our new facility will have a thousand. So that’ll bring us up to close to 3000 people working for Nova Nordisk in Johnston County.

We also have a site in Durham. So in North Carolina, in the triangle, 2,800 and growing, we’re hiring. And that number will only increase as we expand.

Jonathan Breeden: And so what, what? I mean, y’all need what? [00:15:00] Y’all need a little bit of everything, right? You need. You need everything from janitors to scientists, to manufacturing technicians to whatever.

Stacy Beard: Communications people, right.

Jonathan Breeden: Communications people, right, right.

Stacy Beard: Yeah. It is the whole gamut. I know when I, you know, moved here 17 years ago, just think, oh, they must be, you know, scientists doing research. I don’t know. They’re wearing lab coats,

Jonathan Breeden: right?

Stacy Beard: They all have master’s degrees and you know pharmaceuticals and they’ve done that for 20 years.

But we’re hiring students right outta high school, right out of community college, taking the BioWork program. And I know you’ve talked about that in your podcast before. But yeah, it is engineers, chemists but it’s also. You know, HR folks, we have a huge HR team with that many people, right?

We have finance folks, right? All, you know, if you have a background in accounting, right? We’re obviously having to pay the bills like everybody else. But it really is that whole gamut. And again, you don’t have to come with 20 plus years of pharmaceutical experience. We are [00:16:00] hiring folks that, and that’s one thing I do wanna say about Novo Nordisk and I, I thought it was a, I thought it was, they were trying to sell me on this, like, oh, we really try to develop employees, but I meet all the time. Employees who started on the manufacturing floor as operators, you know, making the medicine who were promoted and promoted and promoted. I mean, folks that have started as interns, you know, moving their way up because they do on the job training because they’ll do reimbursement.

For education, they really do believe in supporting the development of the employees ’cause it’s only for their benefit, right? To have employees who know what it’s like to be inside a facility like that and the importance of making high quality medicines for people and they wanna support you and bring you up and there’s so many stories like that at Novo Nordisk folks that never thought they would see themselves working in a pharmaceutical plant making [00:17:00] medicine.

Jonathan Breeden: Right. And not everybody has to wear a spacesuit.

Stacy Beard: That’s right.

Jonathan Breeden: Right. I I used to think everybody in there had to wear the spacesuit, go through the clean room, go through the air showers. They looked like they’re getting on a space shuttle. ’cause you gotta, it’s gotta be a completely cream room, no particles. We’re dealing with injectables here and medicine. It’s gotta be perfect every time. But that’s not the majority of people. There are people that have to wear those suits, but that’s a very small percentage.

Stacy Beard: That’s right.

Jonathan Breeden: I think the suits are kind of neat, but, but it is a lot to put ’em on.

Stacy Beard: I think I look great in a hair net. I’d rather wear a hair net than have to do my hair.

Jonathan Breeden: Right.

Stacy Beard: Right. Yeah. But yeah, that’s another misnomer, right? And It’s not conditions like maybe some people in North Carolina associate with manufacturing, like dark and dirty and noisy and, and that kind of thing.

It’s super clean and bright and there’s windows everywhere and, you know, and, and that, that work life balance, that employee wellness is something that’s, that’s really important to Novo Nordisk. In fact, we’re about to break [00:18:00] ground on an employee wellness center across the street from not far from the Workforce Development Center for Johnston County and the, and the second expansion building that we built.

And that’ll be for employees and their families a place to go swimming and, and play tennis and have an exercise room and food and, you know, react, relax and be well and relax, right? Yeah, just relax. Right there, next door to work.

Jonathan Breeden: And I think most of the jobs there even in finance and stuff, I think a lot of ’em start with doing the, they like you to do the BioWorks class.

Stacy Beard: They do.

Jonathan Breeden: So that you have the basics and the BioWorks class, the first one is a one semester class. It meets two or three nights a week at the Workforce Development Center. It’s taught by Johnston Community College. I think it costs $300. And it is a lot of chemistry. Some of it high school chemistry, a little bit advanced.

It’s a little more than just, I don’t like say high school chemistry, but it’s. Impossible.

Stacy Beard: Mm-hmm.

Jonathan Breeden: You know what I mean? And that’s where it kind of [00:19:00] starts from there. And then there you can go from that one semester BioWorks class to a second semester of BioWorks class to an associate’s in BioWorks to a four year degree in East Carolina. BioWorks to a master’s, to a PhD, and you keep going.

And Novo will help pay for all of that if you are working there for them and making progress, which that’s a tremendous opportunity there, but the barrier entry is really that class, which is you can do at night, one semester. And I mean, they’ll give you a job. Like if you do well and you learn it, I mean.

Stacy Beard: And we’re really pushing ’cause for the first time with our partners at Grifol, we have gotten that BioWork class into high school. So now all of Johnston County’s high schools are offering it. And then if enough kids sign up, it’ll be at your school free and you graduate with your high school diploma and the BioWork certificate that opens you up for entry-level jobs with all the life sciences companies in the triangle, which are hundreds. Right.

Jonathan Breeden: Yeah. It’s tremend. It’s a tremendous opportunity [00:20:00] and I think people are not aware of it.

Stacy Beard: Yeah.

Jonathan Breeden: And, and part of this podcast is to make people aware of the opportunities in Johnston County, and that is the great. One of the greatest opportunities we have because the pay in this industry is extremely good. It is well above the averages of the state, averages of the county. It is extremely good pay. These drugs cost a lot of money, but the pay for the people working on ’em. Is is very good. And like I said, I, I’ve had, I’ve represented many people. I do a lot of child support cases, so I kind of know what people make.

I’ve represented a lot of people that are making a lot more money with that BioWorks certificate at Novo Nordisk than they ever made a four year degree or that they had a four year degree and they went back and they took the BioWorks class, they got in manufacturing at Novo and they’re making more money than they ever made with their four year degree.

It happens all the time and you know, it’s a great place to work. Everybody I’ve represented and worked with know that work there really, really enjoy working there. They enjoy the people. And you know, and that, that’s great because I mean, clearly how you create a culture with that many [00:21:00] people, I don’t know, but I think they’ve done it. At least that’s what people tell me.

Stacy Beard: And another thing you’re fighting is right, like I have a 14-year-old, you have a teenager. I fully expected prior to working at Novo Nordisk, he’s, he’s gone, he’s gonna be going outta Johnston County. So many people and teens probably think, well, I gotta go outside of Johnston County to work.

Right. Just, you know, everybody drives that the other direction. But they don’t right in their backyard. Is, is a career, not just a job. Right? And so that’s the story we wanna help get out there that you don’t have to leave home. You can start right there.

Jonathan Breeden: Well if people are interested in getting a job at Novo or find out what’s available, where do they go?

Stacy Beard: The best website to go to so that you can kind of see, okay, where are all these facilities? And where are the jobs? And can I start looking at them is NovoNordisk-us.com/nc and you’ll put that on all of the, the links for this but it gives you a great overview ’cause [00:22:00] again, I lived in Johnston County forever. Didn’t know what it is they did there. It’ll describe, you know, the first facility in the 90’s, the second one we built. The new one we’re building, what do they do in Durham?

And then it has information about all our community partners. And the job site and you can learn more about it. So I really encourage people to go there.

Jonathan Breeden: Right. And the new plant is the, well, I’m calling it, the second expansion is it’s currently under construction. They’re working on it construction.

Stacy Beard: Incredible progress.

Jonathan Breeden: Thousand people out there working on it every day.

Stacy Beard: Yep.

Jonathan Breeden: And it’s gonna be ready 2027

Stacy Beard: 27 in phases between 2027 and 2029. But they are May, it’s since June 24th when we announced it, and now when it was just, you know dirt and maybe three steel beams. It’s incredible. It is a

Jonathan Breeden: how fast,

Stacy Beard: how fast it’s gone up and the buildings are up and now they’re in the inside and it’s amazing progress. It is a mini city there that is constructing this facility and, and one of the biggest in all of Novo Nordisk. So [00:23:00] super exciting and hiring, you know, all along the way, right now,

Jonathan Breeden: and if people wanted to reach out to you, that same website, I guess to

Stacy Beard: Yes. That’s a great, there’s a, there’s a link to reach us, an email there. It’ll come to me and I’m on LinkedIn, right? And on the social, please reach out to me. I’d, I’d love to talk to anybody in Johnston County.

Jonathan Breeden: Right. Community groups, rotaries. Whatever.

Stacy Beard: Yes.

Jonathan Breeden: Maybe your church group, if you want to know what’s going on with Novo and how it can help you. It’s partners with a ton of community people.

Stacy Beard: Yep.

Jonathan Breeden: I mean, Novo is so, such a community partner with grants and scholarships and all of that. We don’t have time you in all that today, but if you have something you’re interested in. Reach out. I mean, they, they’re very responsive. They’ve helped a lot of projects. I’ve been on community service, I’ve done, and I, I appreciate them doing that and, and Stacy’s work there. So I guess the last question we’ll ask everybody is, what do you love most about Johnston County?

Stacy Beard: Well, last time you asked me that on part one, I said people, and I’m gonna say this time, the Neuse River.

Jonathan Breeden: The Neuse River, [00:24:00] okay.

Stacy Beard: Because I love the Greenway that runs along the Neuse River and I wanna make a call out. We need to connect it from Clayton to Smithfield so I can walk all the way.

Jonathan Breeden: Yeah.

Stacy Beard: And I just, I love. I, I love those natural areas that we have and that we’re preserving in the county, and I’m so glad to see Johnston County investing more in parks and seeing the value that that brings. I, you know, we could have maybe lived anywhere my husband saw.

The country, Mississippi Boy and him saw a little bit of home there, ponds and creeks and, and those kinds of things. And I love that we preserve, I know we’re growing in one of the fastest counties in, in the state growing, but I love that we’re preserving those things and I, I just, I love the Neuse River, so

Jonathan Breeden: That’s great. And I do think eventually. It will connect, you know, it’s the part of the mountains of Sea Trail.

Stacy Beard: I’m hoping.

Jonathan Breeden: We, we had one of the very first episodes of this podcast we had the person in charge of [00:25:00] Johnston County Parks and Recreation.

Stacy Beard: Oh, good. Yes.

Jonathan Breeden: And he, he was on here and we talked about that and we were talking about maybe we’re gonna invite him to come back.

So talk sort of an update on, on that. But, but I do think, think eventually that’s, I don’t know if it’ll be in the next 10 years, but I do think eventually. It will all connect and, and it’ll be nice.

Stacy Beard: It’s nice to know it from the map

Jonathan Breeden: I hope it does. Nice to know. It’s on the map. It’s on the map there. It’s a lot of work and a lot of money lemme just tell you.

Stacy Beard: It is. So I know when we opened a Greenway, when I worked for the town of Clayton, it was, it’s a lot. It’s a lot. It takes a lot of partners and, and more than you would think for just a gravel like path, right? Yeah.

Jonathan Breeden: Well there’s right of ways and roads and, and and yeah connections and private property and it is, it’s a lot.

Stacy Beard: And the law.

Jonathan Breeden: We’ve got law and swamp lands. And all kinds of stuff. So anyway,

Stacy Beard: I’ll walk it one day.

Jonathan Breeden: That’s it. That’s it. Well, we’d like to thank Stacy Beard with Novo Nordisk for coming on and being our guest on this episode of the Best Johnston County podcast. Like I said, you reach out to her at that website.

The [00:26:00] novonordisk-us.com/nc, I got it. So see, I got it. So you can learn all about what Novo’s doing in our area jobs that they have there. They’re hiring, they’re always hiring. They need help. You work right here. No need to drive to Raleigh to get a job. We’d also like you to like, follow, subscribe to this podcast wherever you see it, whether it be on Apple, YouTube, Spotify, LinkedIn, TikTok, or any of the other best of Johnston County podcast social media pages. We’d also like you to ask you to tag us in your Instagram stories, best of Johnston County, and leave us a five star review down below to tell us what you like and maybe what you maybe dislike about the Johnston Best of Johnston County Podcast.

We always are looking for interesting comments so that we can make this podcast for you and better for you. Until next time, I’m your host, Jonathan Breeden.

That’s the end of today’s episode of Best of Johnston County, a show brought to you by the trusted team at Breeden Law Office. We thank you for joining us today and we look forward to sharing more interesting facets of this community next week. Every story, every [00:27:00] viewpoint adds another thread to the rich tapestry of Johnston County.

If the legal aspects highlighted raised some questions, help is just around the corner at www. breedenfirm. com.

I’ve lived and worked in Johnston County for more than two decades, and I’ve seen a lot of change. But few things have impacted our community as dramatically — or as positively — as the presence of Novo Nordisk.

In this episode of The Best of Johnston County Podcast, I sat down (for the second time!) with Stacy Beard, communications director at Novo Nordisk, to dig into everything from their billion-dollar expansions to local job opportunities to a surprising love story behind the company’s origins.

If you’ve ever wondered what’s going on inside that massive facility off Highway 70 in Clayton — or how you or someone you know could land a great job without leaving the county — this one’s for you.

From Modest Beginnings to a Global Powerhouse

When Stacy joined Novo Nordisk about a year and a half ago, she wasn’t even job hunting. Like many people in Johnston County, she’d passed by the building for years, vaguely aware that it “had something to do with diabetes.” Fast forward to today, and she’s helping tell the story of one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world — a story that began over 100 years ago with a Nobel Prize and a personal mission to save lives.

Stacy told me how Novo was founded by a husband-and-wife team after the wife, a doctor herself, was diagnosed with diabetes — a death sentence at the time. Together, they helped scale insulin production in Scandinavia after connecting with researchers in Canada. And that’s how Novo Nordisk got its start.

Over a century later, they’re still focused on treating chronic diseases like diabetes and obesity, and they’ve become global leaders in both.

$6 Billion in Local Investment — and We’re Just Getting Started

Most people don’t realize just how much Novo Nordisk has invested in Johnston County. Their first major expansion, announced over a decade ago, totaled $2 billion, and by the time it was complete, it had surpassed the entire tax base of the Town of Clayton.

Then came Phase Two. In June 2023, Novo announced a second expansion valued at $4.1 billion — the largest life sciences investment in North Carolina history.

I’ve seen the site. It’s unbelievable. As Stacy described it, it’s basically a mini-city under construction — one that will bring their Johnston County workforce to nearly 3,000 people once it’s finished in phases between 2027 and 2029.

That’s not just economic development. That’s legacy-level impact.

You Don’t Need a Lab Coat to Work at Novo

Before I got involved in local economic development, I assumed you had to be a scientist to work at Novo. Lab coats, clean rooms, spacesuits… the whole nine yards. Turns out, I was wrong — and you might be too.

Novo Nordisk hires across the board:

  • Manufacturing operators
  • Engineers and chemists
  • HR, finance, and communications staff
  • Even students right out of high school

And no, not everyone wears a spacesuit. While some cleanroom staff do, most employees work in bright, modern, office-like environments. The facilities are clean, quiet, and designed for both productivity and wellness.

Stacy shared story after story of employees who started in entry-level roles and climbed the ladder — often with Novo’s support for continued education and career development. These aren’t just jobs. Their careers.

The $300 Class That Could Change Your Life

Here’s one of the best-kept secrets in Johnston County: BioWork.

It’s a one-semester course, taught by Johnston Community College, that costs around $300 and introduces students to pharmaceutical manufacturing. And it’s the single biggest door-opener to jobs at companies like Novo Nordisk and Grifols.

Even better? Every high school in Johnston County now offers BioWork. If enough students enroll, the class can be taught right at their school, for free.

This means a graduating senior could walk away with a high school diploma and a BioWork certificate, putting them on the path to a career in biotech immediately — no four-year degree required.

A Company That Puts Its People First

I’ve talked to a lot of folks who work at Novo, and they all say the same thing: it’s a great place to work. The culture is strong, the opportunities are real, and the company truly takes care of its people.

A perfect example? They’re currently building a wellness center for employees and their families — complete with tennis courts, a swimming pool, exercise facilities, and spaces to relax and recharge.

Novo also invests heavily in the community. They’ve supported local service projects I’ve worked on, and they’re known for backing schools, nonprofits, and other grassroots initiatives across the county.

If you’re part of a community group, Rotary, or church organization and want to learn more about partnering with Novo, reach out to Stacy. She’s accessible, responsive, and deeply committed to making sure Novo stays connected to the community.

A Career in Your Backyard — No Commute Required

One thing I really want people in Johnston County to hear is this: you don’t have to leave to find a great job.

Whether you’re fresh out of school or switching careers, whether you have a degree or you’re starting with BioWork — the opportunities at Novo are right here.

They’re hiring right now, and the numbers will keep growing over the next several years. With competitive pay, real advancement potential, and a culture that values people, Novo is offering what many folks are still driving to Raleigh to find.

To explore job openings and learn more about what Novo is doing in Johnston County, visit:  novonordisk-us.com/nc

Why I Love This County — and So Does Stacy

At the end of every episode, I always ask my guests what they love most about Johnston County. Last time, Stacy said “the people.” This time, she added another answer that hit home for me: the Neuse River.

She talked about how much she loves the Greenway, and how she dreams of it one day connecting Clayton to Smithfield. I couldn’t agree more. There’s something about those natural spaces that really captures what’s special about this place, even as we grow and evolve.

If you haven’t yet, I encourage you to listen to the full episode. There’s so much to be proud of here — from the companies we attract to the careers we’re building to the people who call this place home.

Thanks again to Stacy Beard for joining me, and to Novo Nordisk for being such an engaged, forward-thinking part of our community.

AND MORE TOPICS COVERED IN THE FULL INTERVIEW!!! You can check that out and subscribe to YouTube.

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