Have an idea for green jobs? North Valley startups can get $130,000 in bioindustry campaign
Five emerging businesses will get up to $130,000 each as part of the bioindustrial push in the Northern San Joaquin Valley.
The application deadline is Nov. 17 for the BEAM Circular Accelerator. It seeks to create jobs in turning crop, forest and other waste into goods such as fuel, building materials, plastics and nontoxic chemicals.
Each recipient will get a $30,000 state grant and up to $100,000 in investment by venture capitalists involved in sustainability. The chosen startups also will receive three months of mentorship and access to office and lab space, beginning in February.
The grants are from a state program called California Jobs First, which has only one funding round. They will be offered annually if another source is found, BEAM Circular CEO Karen Warner said by email.
The accelerator is a tiny part of a bioindustrial campaign that has drawn about $55 million in private and public funding. The largest public piece is the $10 million allotted by the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors from federal aid that eased COVID-19’s economic effects.
Stanislaus 2030 report laid groundwork
BEAM stands for BioEconomy, Agriculture and Manufacturing. It grew out of the Stanislaus 2030 report, released in late 2022, and also takes in Merced and San Joaquin counties.
BEAM Circular partnered on the contest with gener8tor, an investment network based in Madison, Wisconsin, and with Monterey-based HawkTower.
“This new program ... will invest in the next wave of game-changing bioeconomy innovators who will shape a more resilient and sustainable future,” Warner said in a Sept. 19 news release.
The effort has support from a federal lab that does small-batch testing in the East Bay city of Emeryville. A key goal is a much bigger North Valley facility where startups could bring their ideas to commercial scale before moving on to permanent quarters. The partners have just begun the site-selection process.
Waste from nut processors, wineries and more
The North Valley generates massive amounts of waste amid its agricultural bounty. Hulls and shells are removed from almonds and walnuts. Wineries have skins, seeds and stems left over from grape crushing. Dairy manure can be turned into fuel that replaces petroleum. Mountain counties just to the east could supply bioindustry with wood thinned out of fire-prone forests.
Ryan Jeffery is senior managing director of sustainability at gener8tor. “Our mission with this accelerator is to cultivate a platform that supports diverse founders working on the most pressing environmental challenges in the bioeconomy sector,” he said.
The 2022 report set a goal of 40,000 well-paying jobs, defined as at least $28.58 an hour, with benefits and chances for promotion. Inflation since then has raised the living wage to $30.29.
This story was originally published September 23, 2024 at 11:00 AM.
