Industrial biotech jobs soar, sector asks for policy help

California biofuels companies and others in the "industrial biotechnology" sector increased employment by 632 percent over the past five years, according to a survey conducted by the state’s two largest biotech industry associations.
The boom comes from a low starting base — among the 33 companies responding to the survey, 18 had no employees in 2006 — but it highlights the state’s opportunity to capture large-scale biofuel, green industrial chemical and biomaterial production facilities as the industry develops, backers said.