Critical Proposals
ACWIB is pleased that three projects have been approved by the Employment and Training Panel — Bayer Healthcare, Amyris Biotechnologies and Solyndra — together they employ several thousand workers and are deemed "critical proposals" because of their importance to the state's economy and job growth. ETP funds will assist these companies in expanding and retaining their operations in California.
| Amyris Biotechnologies, Inc. | Alameda | $319,200 |
| Bayer Healthcare LLC | Alameda | $497,040 |
| Solyndra, Inc. | Alameda | $494,000 |
As a major player in the biotechnology/life sciences industry, Bayer Healthcare LLC received training funds for its employees at its Berkeley and Richmond manufacturing and research facilities. Bay area-based Amyris Biotechnologies will use its ETP funds award to both retrain current employees and create new jobs as part of its plan to build a manufacturing facility to quickly transfer its research and technology for the renewable fuels and alternative energy industry. Also a critical proposal that provides both job creation and retraining opportunities, solar panel manufacturer Solyndra, Inc. is building a second manufacturing facility, which it says could produce 3,000 short-term construction jobs and employ 2,000 Californians once completed.
