Large-scale bioindustry testing hub planned for Stanislaus County. Here’s where
A three-year search has settled on the Beard Industrial District for the largest piece of the bioindustry push in and near Stanislaus County.
The site near southeast Modesto would accommodate large-scale testing of ideas for turning crop and other waste into new products.
BEAM Circular and its partners have secured the $17 million needed for the first phase, CEO Karen Warner said by email Monday. They do not yet have a timeline for its operation. The funding is from state and county sources.
The organizers are not yet disclosing the exact location or purchase price. Beard already has 20-plus companies, mostly in food and beverages.
The backers aim to create tens of thousands of new jobs. The idea grew out of the Stanislaus 2030 report but also takes in other counties. Merced and San Joaquin have similar orchards and dairy farms. Tuolumne County could send wood thinned from dense forests.
The tentative selection had not been public until it turned up deep in the agenda packet for Tuesday’s meeting of the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors. It gets a quarterly update on various aspects of bioindustry. This is part of the consent calendar, usually approved without comment.
Check back at modbee.com for updates on this breaking story.
This story was originally published May 18, 2026 at 12:12 PM.
