A Biotech Frontier
If a diversified portfolio is the key to economic stability, Ventura County is sitting pretty as it begins a new millennium. To balance the ancient art of coaxing crops from the soil, the county is becoming a center for the futuristic industry of biotechnology.
For decades farming has been the centerpiece of the county’s economy, reaping a billion dollars a year, shipping lemons, strawberries and dozens of other crops all over the world and employing thousands of people. Current efforts to reduce development pressure on farmland and to find win-win solutions to other conflicts should help keep local farming operations healthy for decades more to come.
But as Times staff writer Margaret Talev explores in a series beginning today, the biotech boom touched off when Amgen Inc. was founded in Thousand Oaks in 1980 has grown and grown. Today, at least 27 biotech-related companies are doing business in Ventura County, providing some 6,400 local jobs.
Although that is only about 2% of the jobs countywide, that number is expected to steadily grow. Ten of the county’s new biotech companies started just in the last three years.
The timing is perfect. This summer scientists announced a breakthrough in mapping the human genome--the blueprint for the inner machinery of every member of our species. Further advances in that research promise to open new frontiers of possibility for fighting disease, maintaining health and perhaps extending human life.
If there is to be a California gold rush of the 21st century, it could well be in biotechnology.
Talev’s series documents how Ventura County economic development leaders set out five years ago to capitalize on Amgen’s presence and encourage other firms to locate here. Although no one expects the county to ever overtake the San Francisco, San Diego or Los Angeles regions (all among the nation’s top six biotech centers), area leaders do believe Ventura County can be an increasingly significant part of the state’s biotech network. Already, biotech is increasingly crucial to the county.
To a large degree, it was luck that brought Amgen to town 20 years ago and it was Amgen that attracted or begat many of the other firms. But to its credit, the county is now working hard to nurture this industry. The Economic Development Collaborative of Ventura County is courting Los Angeles biotech companies looking to relocate or expand. Meanwhile, VCBio, a networking group of industry representatives, meets monthly to discuss the needs of companies already here.
The needs and opportunities of biotech figure prominently in planning for Cal State Channel Islands, scheduled to begin granting degrees in 2002. Biotech jobs require more highly educated workers than farm jobs--and pay about double the county’s average annual salary of $33,000.
Farming will continue to be central to Ventura County’s economy and lifestyle for years to come, as will energy production and the two Navy bases. Added to these, the biotech boom offers new frontiers of opportunity for today’s Ventura County residents--and tomorrow’s.
