Officials with BEAM Circular announced at its Biocatalyst Industry & Innovation Exchange on Thursday, May 21 that it has selected a site in Modesto’s Beard Industrial District for the California Bioeconomy Innovation Campus – a first-of-its-kind facility designed to accelerate development of circular bioeconomy technologies and enable the growth of biomanufacturing across California’s Central Valley and beyond.
The Campus will provide shared pilot and demonstration facilities, serving as a center of excellence for zero-waste biomanufacturing. The multi-tenant Campus will help companies bridge the gap between research and commercial manufacturing through shared infrastructure, technical resources, and commercialization support. The Campus will also feature a community visitor center and support student field trips, workforce training, and a wide range of innovation activities and community partnerships.
The project is expected to directly create 100 to 140 permanent jobs at full operation, along with significant construction employment opportunities. More broadly, the Campus is designed to catalyze long-term regional economic growth by attracting biomanufacturing companies, strengthening domestic supply chains, and helping agricultural industries and rural communities unlock new value from underutilized biomass resources such as nut shells, winery byproducts, orchard wood waste, forestry residues, and food processing sidestreams.
“The selection of a site for the California Bioeconomy Innovation Campus marks a major milestone for our region and for the future of sustainable manufacturing in California,” said Karen Warner, CEO of BEAM Circular. “This Campus is about building the infrastructure needed to help breakthrough bioproduct technologies move from concept to market – while creating quality jobs, supporting rural economies, and cementing the Central Valley’s role as a leader in the growing global bioeconomy.”
The project is advancing in collaboration with more than 100 cross-sector partners through the Circular Bioeconomy Innovation Collaborative (CBIO Collaborative), which is coordinated by BEAM Circular alongside Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, UC Merced, the Manufacturers Council of the Central Valley, and WE Will!, the North San Joaquin Valley’s K16 Regional Collaborative, which represents educational institutions across San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Merced counties.
The Campus will connect research institutions, entrepreneurs, manufacturers, workforce partners, and local communities across a shared innovation ecosystem focused on scaling technologies that convert bio-based inputs into renewable fuels, sustainable materials, chemicals, food ingredients, and other high-value products. The Innovation Campus will specialize in scaling “circular” solutions that reduce waste and pollution, while creating new revenue opportunities for local farmers and communities.
BEAM Circular has secured $17 million for the first phase of Campus development, including $8 million through the State of California’s Budget Act of 2025 (allocated through CalRecycle), $6 million from a California Jobs First grant, $1.8 million from North Valley Thrive, and $1.2 million from Stanislaus County through the American Rescue Plan Act. The estimated $180 million project is designed for phased expansion, with initial services launching in 2026.
The Beard Industrial District is located in the center of the North San Joaquin Valley – a tri-county region encompassing Merced, San Joaquin, and Stanislaus counties, located directly east of the San Francisco Bay Area, west of heavily forested Sierra Nevada Mountains, and in the heart of the most productive agricultural region in the United States. The Modesto site strategically positions the Innovation Campus to bridge California’s world-leading hubs for technology innovation, agricultural production, and large-scale food manufacturing.
BEAM Circular launched a strategic planning and site assessment process for the Innovation Campus in early 2023, catalyzed by seed funding from Stanislaus County. The planning process included preliminary engineering and project chartering, market analysis and user interviews, community engagement activities, a regional industrial land inventory study, and a comprehensive site search that included an open call for site proposals from local municipalities.
Candidate sites were evaluated against multiple technical, environmental, workforce, and community criteria, including utility capacity, transportation access, workforce accessibility, proximity to agricultural activities, zoning, environmental considerations, community integration opportunities, and expansion potential.
The Beard Industrial District in Modesto emerged as the preferred location for the Campus, meeting or exceeding requirements across all categories assessed. Final site confirmation remains contingent on completion of due diligence and execution of a site agreement.
The Modesto selection reinforces the North San Joaquin Valley’s emergence as a national leader in the circular bioeconomy. The region was designated California’s first Certified Bioeconomy Development Opportunity Zone and has become a strategic hub for biomanufacturing due to its abundant agricultural resources, strong logistics infrastructure, and growing network of industry, research, workforce, and community partners.
Companies and organizations interested in becoming tenants or users of Innovation Campus services can complete a Campus interest form to connect with the BEAM Circular team at: www.beamcircular.org/campus.
