Investment from California Jobs First program to launch three projects that grow biotechnology industry, create good-paying jobs
Valley Vision, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, Sierra College, and regional partners have collectively received $7.3 million through the California Jobs First Regional Investment Initiative to launch the Capital Biomanufacturing Alliance (CAPBIO), a coordinated effort to accelerate the region’s growing biomanufacturing industry.
This award represents a significant coordinated California Jobs First investment in biomanufacturing, and will connect three critical components necessary for the industry’s growth: commercialization and capital, production infrastructure, and workforce development.
CAPBIO will launch three interconnected programs designed to help biomanufacturing companies start, grow and stay in the Capital Region while creating new career opportunities in our community:
- Ecosystem - Capital & Commercialization: Company recruitment, commercialization support, capital activation and regional marketing. Led by Valley Vision, with support from the Greater Sacramento Economic Council (GSEC), AgStart, the Carlsen Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and Wexford Science & Technology.
- Infrastructure - The Plant: Shared biomanufacturing facilities enabling companies to move from pilot production to commercial scale ensuring innovations have the infrastructure grown and stay in the region. Led by UC ANR with support from UC Davis.
- Workforce Development - Training & Job Pathways: Training and career pathways aligned to biomanufacturing employer demand. Led by Sierra College, with support from Capitol Impact and Los Rios Community College District.
The $7.3 million investment marks a significant milestone for the We Prosper Together initiative and the Capital Region’s California Jobs First strategy, securing the resources to turn three years of regional research, planning and partnership into real economic growth.
Through research and sustained engagement with industry, education, workforce, economic development and community partners across the eight-county region, biomanufacturing emerged as an industry where the Capital Region has the assets and competitive advantages to lead.
The region combines world-class research and innovation at UC Davis and Aggie Square, a globally significant agricultural economy, a growing network of biotechnology companies and entrepreneurs, health care and life sciences assets, and institutions capable of building the workforce and infrastructure needed for industry growth.
The biomanufacturing sector has an impressive 12.08 job multiplier, which means that for every one direct job created in a specific industry or project, a total of 12.08 jobs are supported or created within the regional economy.
Regional partners built a coordinated strategy focused on turning those advantages into economic growth: helping promising technologies reach the market, ensuring companies can scale and stay here, attracting capital and new businesses, and preparing residents for the jobs that growth will create.
Selected through a highly competitive statewide process that drew more than 100 applicants, CAPBIO secured the resources to advance commercialization, infrastructure, business attraction and workforce development together, creating an ecosystem that supports innovation from the lab through commercial scale.
Implementation of the CAPBIO project will begin in late 2026 and continue for two years.
"The Capital Region has all the pieces: world-class research, industry momentum and a workforce ready to grow. What was missing was a coordinated strategy. California Jobs First gave us the framework and with this multi-million dollar investment in CAPBIO, the Capital Region will commercialize technologies, attract companies, connect investors and build the talent pipelines that turn breakthroughs into great careers right here in the Capital Region. This award is for the benefit of our community, its students, its families, our industry and educational partners across this region.” – Evan Schmidt, CEO, Valley Vision
“UC Agriculture and Natural Resources is excited to work with our partners in the Sacramento region to advance the bioeconomy. The Plant, a first-of-its-kind agri-food innovation and commercialization center, will bring together biomanufacturing, controlled-environment agriculture, food and agriculture innovation and sensory science, wet laboratories, and incubation space under one roof – an integrated capability that exists nowhere else in California or, to our knowledge, the nation. The Plant is a direct extension of UC ANR's public mission: connect UC research to real-world application across California's agricultural, food and natural resource systems.” – Glenda Humiston, Vice President, Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of California
"Biomanufacturing companies need more than facilities and investment to grow – they need people with the right skills. Sierra College builds its technical programs with employers in the room, and CAPBIO Workforce puts that experience to work in a fast-growing sector. This is what it looks like when workforce development sits at the heart of a region’s economic strategy – companies get the talent they need to locate and expand here, and workers get access to good-paying jobs." – William Duncan, Superintendent/President, Sierra College
“This investment is a significant step forward in elevating Greater Sacramento’s bioeconomy and putting our region on the map as a hub for biomanufacturing. By commercializing innovative technologies, attracting new companies and investment, and building the talent pipelines needed to support this growing industry, we can create more high-quality jobs and economic opportunities for people across the region. This award will strengthen our life sciences ecosystem and position Greater Sacramento for continued growth and innovation.” – Barry Broome, President & CEO, Greater Sacramento Economic Council
This article was first published on the Valley Vision News page.