HAYWARD -- A bill that would create the East Bay Biotechnology Center at Cal State Hayward was approved by the state Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment.

The committee voted 6-1 in support of the bill, which was sponsored by Assemblywoman Ellen Corbett (D-San Leandro). Corbett is chairwoman of the Assembly Select Committee on Biotechnology.

The bill now awaits approval of various subcommittees before it can be presented to the state Senate for approval. If all goes well, the bill would become law in January, Corbett said.

"I'm predicting success for the bill," Corbett said during a telephone interview Thursday.

Corbett's optimism is based on the fact that no state money would be used to fund the center. Instead, Cal State Hayward officials are seeking federal appropriations to underwrite the center.

"We think this is tremendous," said Bob Brauer, assistant to Cal State Hayward President Norma Rees. "This is a feather in our cap."

The idea for the center stemmed from a conversation Corbett had with Rees. Corbett said Rees and the faculty expressed interest in adding courses to the curriculum that would support the area's burgeoning biotechnology industry.

"We felt the best way to promote that was to establish a center," Corbett said. "The university is very enthusiastic about it."

Corbett said Hayward is the ideal place for the center, because it is in the heart of the growing biotechnology industry.

"Hayward has a rapidly growing cluster of biotech companies," Corbett said. "It makes sense that Cal State Hayward have a center on campus to help train the work force for the local industry."

Under Bill 1885, the biotechnology center would be a catalyst for growth in the biotechnology industry in the Bay Area.

The center would help to spur growth in the industry in Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano counties by monitoring, tracking and analyzing the needs of the biotech work force. The center also would develop strategies that would facilitate the creation of partnerships with local public and private agencies that would further support the industry.

Brauer said the center would be the third in the CSU system, joining Cal State Los Angeles, and San Diego State and CSU San Marcos, which have formed a partnership to develop a second center.

The CSU system expects to receive $6 million in federal funds to support the three biotech centers, Brauer said.

"California has more biotech companies than the rest of the nation combined, because we have a trained work force (that) has graduated from some of the finest institutions of higher education in the world," Corbett said in a statement released by her office Wednesday.

Corbett said her bill responds to the increasing demand for trained workers in the biotech industry, which has experienced a 15 percent annual growth rate in the past five years.

"The future of California must include a vibrant biotechnology industry," Corbett said. "Competition from other states and nations is intense, and we must do all we can to foster this emerging industry."

Brauer said the university would use "standing facilities" in Hayward, at its professional center in Oakland and the campus in Concord to expand the biotechnology program.

"Obviously, biotechnology is one of the expanding industries," Brauer said. "We already have a program. What we're looking for is to really develop the program."