Human olfactory mucosa cells (hOMCs) have potential as a regenerative therapy for spinal cord injury. In our earlier work we derived the PA5 cells, a polyclonal population that retains functional attributes of primary OMCs. Microcarrier suspension culture is an alternative to planar 2D culture to produce cells in quantities that can meet the needs of clinical development. This study aimed to screen the effects of 10 microcarriers on PA5 hOMCs yield and phenotype. Studies performed in well plates led to a 2.9-fold higher cell yield on Plastic compared to Plastic Plus microcarriers with upregulation of neuronal markers β-III tubulin and nestin for both conditions. Microcarrier suspension culture resulted in concentrations of 1.4x105 cells/mL and 4.9x104 cells/mL for Plastic and Plastic Plus, respectively, after 7 days. p75NTR transcript was significantly upregulated for PA5 hOMCs grown on Plastic Plus compared to Plastic. Furthermore, co-culture of PA5 hOMCs grown on Plastic Plus with a neuronal cell line (NG108-15) led to increased neurite outgrowth. This study presents the successful expansion of PA5 cells using microcarrier suspension culture and it reveals competing effects of microcarriers on cell expansion versus functional attributes, showing that designing scalable bioprocesses should not only be driven by cell yields.