Report: County has future in life sciences

Report: County has future in life sciences
By Rachel Raskin-Zrihen/Times-Herald staff writer
Posted: 03/01/2009

Looking past the economic crisis, Solano County is poised to be a major player in the life sciences industry -- among the nation's fastest growing -- local and regional economic experts said.

In a report delivered to the Solano County Economic Development Corporation (EDC) last week, Doug Henton of Collaborative Economics said that during the past decade, the county has seen exponential growth in the life science-related industry, and can expect more.

"We did an index of Solano County, and identified life sciences -- which includes pharmaceuticals, medical devices and bio-technology -- as its fastest growing industry," Henton said. "And we also found it's fairly concentrated relative to the rest of the state."

Vacaville's Genentech, Alza Corporation and Novartis Pharmaceuticals and Benicia's Bio-Rad Laboratories, are some of the industry's heavyweights, EDC President Mike Ammann said.

Vallejo's Touro University and the University of California at Davis have attracted significant federal funds for life science-related research, and will likely continue doing so, along with the University of California at Berkeley and the University of San Francisco, which are considered part of the area's life sciences cluster, Henton said.

"We also expect new related businesses to spin off the research and to come out of Touro's (Mare Island cancer research and treatment center) project," he said.

The report also found the area's average wage levels have risen and that nearly 80 percent of the area's life sciences jobs are held by county residents, he said.

"Not just the entry-level jobs but also the high-end jobs," Henton said.

To ensure the county's position, however, certain things must be in place, Henton and Ammann said.

"There needs to be space for research and development, manufacturing and commercial," Henton said. "There needs to be a workforce and training and education for them."

Adequate water and sewer capacity also is needed, he said.

"We're in a short-term recession but in the long term, the region is uniquely well positioned to take advantage of growth in the life sciences industry." Henton said.

Ammann said he'd like the county's business community to actively make sure things go the way the report describes.

"The report says there are about 2,500 life sciences jobs in the county now, not counting hospital jobs," Ammann said. "I challenged everyone in the group (at last week's meeting) to double the number of those jobs in the county by 2020."

Contact staff writer Rachel Raskin-Zrihen at (707) 553-6824 or RachelZ@thnewsnet.com.