Solano, County California – California Forever, the controversial venture backed by Silicon Valley billionaires to construct a new city from scratch in Solano County, is once again expanding its vision—this time with a 2,100-acre industrial project aimed at revitalizing American manufacturing. Dubbed the “Solano Foundry,” the proposed site would serve as a hub for companies working in robotics, defense, energy, aerospace, and advanced transportation. The company claims the project could generate at least 40,000 jobs, including 35,000 in manufacturing alone.
The announcement comes just months after California Forever floated plans to build a shipbuilding facility near Collinsville, a small town at the edge of the Sacramento River. That proposal aligned with a federal push to restore domestic shipbuilding capacity. The Foundry now seeks to support that initiative with adjacent industrial infrastructure. Together, these moves suggest a strategy not just to build a city, but to position it as a national center for production and innovation.
While the proposal echoes federal and state rhetoric about the need to rebuild domestic industry and the middle class, it has also reignited local concerns. Critics question the necessity—and the wisdom—of constructing an entirely new municipality to accommodate industrial growth. They point out that many cities in California already have underused industrial zones that could support the same kinds of projects without transforming thousands of acres of farmland into urban sprawl…