On Oct. 22, 2020, the City of Vacaville announced the start of the next generation of development of its world class biomanufacturing cluster by announcing plans to expand it on approximately 300 acres adjacent to existing facilities and to name the entire zone the California Biomanufacturing Center.

At the same time, the city announced the creation of the California Biomanufacturing Center, a nonprofit that will accelerate the growth of the sector in Vacaville by working with industry and academic partners to ensure Vacaville remains a place for biomanufacturing to flourish and to ensure that the industry and community thrive together.

Vacaville Mayor Ron Rowlett pointed to the establishment of the California Biomanufacturing Center as a reflection of the city’s deep and ongoing commitment to the sector and said it will help to guide the continuing growth of the industry in Vacaville. The city expects that this expansion will lead to more than $2 billion in industrial development, 3.5 million square feet of commercial real estate, and the addition of 10,000 jobs with a payroll of more than $1 billion a year.

Vacaville, located 50 miles northeast of San Francisco along Interstate 80 between the University of California Berkeley and Davis campuses, has been a center for biomanufacturing since the 1980s. It gained recognition as a world-class biotechnology center in 1994, when Genentech acquired land for its biologics manufacturing facility there. Today, the facility is among the largest biotech drug manufacturing complexes in the world.

During the event, the California Biomanufacturing Center, Inc. and Solano Community College announced a memorandum of understanding to guide ongoing collaboration between the two. To support future development of the city’s biomanufacturing cluster, the new nonprofit will work closely with industry and its partner Solano Community College to address the workforce training needs of local industry and workforce development opportunities. Solano Community College has offered a Bachelor of Science degree in biomanufacturing since August 2017.