The word “biotech” might evoke images of lab coats and petri dishes and, while that is certainly part of the story, BIO Alabama wants to make sure it isn’t the entire story.

A new video with amped-up music and images that cut across a wide swath of the important industry aims to frame biotech differently in the state.

Highlights include the state’s research universities, Southern Research, HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology and Innovation Depot along with many of the biotech and life sciences companies in Alabama. Watch it below.

BIO Alabama is the statewide affiliate of the international Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) made up of industry, educational and economic development entities committed to connecting and expanding the industry.

In Alabama, the biotech industry is significant. According to a report from the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Business, the industry has a $7.2 billion economic impact on the state, including:

• 780 bioscience companies;
• 48,000 direct and indirect jobs;
• $68,000 average salary (46 percent above Alabama average);
• $2.3 billion payroll;
• $161 million payroll taxes;
• $101 million in venture capital since 2012;
• $1.3 billion National Institutes of Health funding; and
• 9 percent of Alabama’s gross domestic product.