And even more:
SHASTA COUNTY
2010 Events Reported for 1st Time Here Today: 1
Morpheus Lights, an entertainment lighting company that relocated to Redding 12 years ago to escape Silicon Valley, consolidated operations at its Las Vegas headquarters in April. The Redding Record Searchlight reported that in 1998 Morpheus relocated from Santa Clara because “employees were concerned about San Francisco Bay area traffic and the high cost of living. Morpheus later moved its headquarters to Las Vegas but [until this year] kept its main production and manufacturing facility in Redding.” See the Jan. 22, 2010 story “Morpheus Lights pulling out of Redding.” (CLO and RELO-OS)
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SOLANO COUNTY
2010 Events Reported for 1st Time Here Today: 1
Dr. Pepper Snapple/7-Up bottling operation in Vallejo shut down on Oct. 18, 2010, even though soda-plant operations are growing in many other parts of the nation. The Vallejo Times-Herald reported a loss of more than 90 jobs. Operations will be consolidated with branches in Sacramento, Petaluma and San Leandro. A company spokesperson said, “Our decision to consolidate Bay Area operations was made as part of an ongoing effort to improve operating efficiency and serve our customers more effectively.” See the Sept. 28, 2010 story “7UP bottling plant closing in Vallejo, more than 90 jobs lost” (through NewsBank). (CLO)
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STANISLAUS COUNTY
2010 Events Reported for 1st Time Here Today: 1
Hi-Tec Sports USA, based in Modesto for 30 years, is moving its corporate HQ to Portland, Oregon. It is a subsidiary of privately held Hi-Tec Sports plc of London, England. According to the Central Valley Business Times, about a dozen jobs will be affected; shipping and distribution will remain in Modesto. See the Oct. 11, 2010 story “Central Valley shoe company moves headquarters to Oregon.” The Modesto Bee reported that the company’s products are manufactured overseas. See the Oct. 11, 2010 story “Footwear maker moving its HQ.” (CLO and RELO-OS)
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VENTURA COUNTY
2010 Events Reported for 1st Time Here Today: 2
Consolidated Electrical Distributors Inc. (CED) will relocate its corporate HQ from Westlake Village to Irving, Texas. The move will create 120 jobs and generate $3.3 million in capital investment in the area. Texas Gov. Rick Perry said: “Employers across the nation are looking for a job-friendly environment where they can succeed. Thanks to the Texas Enterprise Fund, low taxes, predictable regulations, a reformed legal system and increasingly accountable public schools, Texas continues to attract businesses and investment, and is the number one state for job creation in the U.S.” CED, a Forbes 125 private company, is one of the largest electrical distribution companies in the U.S. and one of the largest private companies in the nation. See the GovMonitor Oct. 22, 2010 story: “Consolidated Electrical Distributors Receives $1.2 Million TEF Investment, To Create 120 Jobs.” (CLO and RELO-OS)
In-Three, HQ’d in Westlake Village, has been purchased by Digital Domain and most of the 70 jobs will be shifted to Port St. Lucie, Florida. The Los Angeles Times reported that “In-Three has been a pioneer in the field of converting movies into 3-D, a business that has taken off since the success of James Cameron’s blockbuster ‘Avatar.’” The paper quoted Cliff Plumer, Digital Domain’s chief executive, that “I’d rather keep the jobs in California,” but Florida is “more economical than California, I’m sorry to say.” Plans are in the works for a Digital Domain Institute in West Palm Beach, a four-year program in advanced digital media supported by Florida State University. See the Nov. 19, 2010, story: “Effects studio Digital Domain buying In-Three and moving most of it out of state.” Note: This move is separate from the previously reported Digital Domain moves to Florida and British Columbia. (CLO and RELO-OS)
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UNKNOWN CALIFORNIA COUNTY (OR COUNTIES?)
2010 Events Reported for 1st Time Here Today: 1
Roche, a bioscience and pharmaceutical company HQ’d in Switzerland, after looking at California, scratched the state off its list for a new 500-employee facility in favor of Oro Valley, Arizona, a high-growth community near Tucson. The five-year project will have a capital investment value of about $180 million. According to the Arizona Daily Star, the new jobs at the Ventana Medical Systems subsidiary will have an average salary of $75,000. The facility will be located near a University of Arizona drug research lab, the university’s Bio5 Institute, which helps move research into the marketplace, and a growing cluster of bioscience research companies. See the Oct. 13, 2010 story “Drug giant Roche to add 500 jobs here” (through NewsBank). Inside Tucson Business reported: “In landing the expansion, the Oro Valley site won out over three others Roche was considering — Indianapolis and unspecified locations in southern California and northern New Jersey, according to Joe Snell, president and CEO of Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities (TREO). . . . Indianapolis was considered a prime candidate because it is the headquarters of Roche Diagnostics. In New Jersey, Roche also has a small diagnostics facility in Branchburg . . . Ventana Medical President Hany Massarany said the company is already hiring . . . . ‘At this site we have manufacturing, national sales and marketing, HR, IT, finance, and organizational positions so there will be a wide range of people we need to hire to fill our needs’ . . . . Oro Valley Mayor Satish Hiremath said he believed his town’s eagerness to help contributed to Roche’s decision. ‘While other cities may have thrown more money on the table up front to get this lured their way, it doesn’t make it up in the end if they have to spend another six to 12 months to build the site. Time is money and I believe that was a huge factor in making this possible,’ Hiremath said.” See more at Inside Tucson Business, Oct. 15, 2010 story, “How Oro Valley landed 500, $75,000 a-year jobs.” Note Roche is familiar with Northern California in that Genentech, a biotechnology company and member of the Roche Group, has headquarters in South San Francisco. (CP)
Posted by Joseph Vranich at 1:04 AM
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Labels: business leaves California, business relocation coach, business relocation consultant, business relocation services, California taxes, economic incentives, site selection
Part II: Examples of Companies Excluded
From California Disinvestment Event Listings (updated)
The 2010 events are listed for logical reasons, as outlined “Defining California Disinvestment Events.” Companies are leaving the state entirely or in part, deflecting capital to lower-cost locations, or are putting facilities that are traditional to California in non-traditional locations. Some are “green” companies that praise California’s favored treatment of their industry while nonetheless locating facilities in other states.
Examples of Companies and Events Left Off the List
Many events occur that do not belong in that list. I’ve excluded countless companies that are attempting to serve new territories or new customers, are expanding because the company is growing, or are acquiring companies located elsewhere. When events appear unrelated to California’s hostile business environment, I give the companies the benefit of the doubt and leave them off the list.
Here I are eight events that represent the latest companies I’m leaving off the California Disinvestment Events list:
Intel will open a $1 billion, 4,000-employee manufacturing facility in Vietnam to make chip sets for mobile devices and laptops with the capability to produce microprocessors in the future. See the San Jose Mercury News Oct. 29, 2010 story, “Intel opens billion dollar factory in Vietnam.”
Intel opened a 300mm wafer fabrication facility in China, its first semiconductor manufacturing plant in Asia. The company said on Oct. 26, 2010: “This manufacturing facility helps deliver on our vision to contribute to sustainable growth in China while giving us better proximity to serve our customers in Asia,” said Paul Otellini, Intel’s chief executive. See “CHINA : Intel Opens $2.5 Billion Fab Plant in China.”
AC Propulsion in San Dimas is expanding its production capacity and manufacturing processes for electric drives with a new facility in Beijing. See The FavStocks.com, Dec. 3, 2010, “AC Propulsion expands electric drive manufacturing capacity in China; support from Chinese government.”
Jatco Inc. of Union City, involved in plastic molding and manufacturing, will establish a new production facility in Greenwood County, South Carolina. The $2 million investment is expected to generate 39 new jobs. See the Greenwood Partnership Alliance press release “Jatco Incorporated announces new facility in Greenwood County.” The company also operates a plant in Dongguan, China.
BeamOne LLC of San Diego has opened its newest medical device electron beam sterilization service center in Saxonburg, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. The facility adds a second electron beam system and increases the s capacity to meet customer demand. See the company’s Aug. 12, 2010 news release “BeamOne LLC Schedules Pittsburgh Grand Opening.”
Oclaro, Inc. of San Jose, a provider of optical communications and laser solutions, opened its new Design Center in Oro Valley, Ariz. (near Tucson) in what is commonly referred to as “Optics Valley.” The decision to locate there was probably influenced, at least in part, by Oclaro’s acquisition of the Tucson-based Newport Spectra Physics high-powered laser diode business last year. See the company news release: “Oclaro Expands Optical Design and Packaging Expertise; Opens New Design Center in Tucson, Arizona.”
Tasz Inc., a cork maker, is investing $2.2 million and creating 21 jobs in Lenoir, North Carolina, which the company describes as a “central location for serving the wine industries in the eastern and northeastern U.S., Canada, South America, and Europe,” said Dr. Chakra V. Gupta, president and owner of Tasz. “After evaluating locations in California and Europe, we determined that Caldwell County and Lenoir provided ideal place to establish the Tasz Inc. investment.” The company will build a 60,000-square-foot manufacturing facility to develop, produce, and market synthetic corks for the wine and spirits industry. Tasz will produce the corks under its NeoCork brand. See the Area Development Online story of Sept. 28, 2010, “Tasz Inc. Investing $2.2M in Beverage Cork Production Facility.”
Harsco Corporation opened a new logistics “super center” in Las Vegas to serve the southwestern U.S. It will replace non-customer-facing functions previously done in Los Angeles, and also for facilities in Denver, Salt Lake City and Phoenix. See the company’s Oct. 7, 2010 press release, “Harsco’s Infrastructure Group Unveils New Super Center Business Concept.”
Ultratech of San Jose opened Its Singapore international headquarters “to better serve its large customer base in Asia.” See the company’s news release “Ultratech Announces the Opening of Its Singapore International Operations.” UPDATE: I now have doubts about listing Ultratech here instead of the “Disinvestment Events” list. I say that because channelnewsasia.com in a Dec. 6, 2010, story quotes company CEO Arthur Zafiropaulo as acknowledging that “We are increasing our space by 30 percent because we are looking forward to growing faster in the engineering and R&D area.” Engineering and R&D in Singapore? Not California? Turns out Ultratech will invest up to US$250 million in Singapore in the next five years and hire about 300 more people for its sales, services and engineering operations there. Mr Zafiropaulo was quoted as saying, “We expect…to transfer all our lithography from California to here by the end of the year.” See “Ultratech opens global headquarters in Singapore.”
Examples Previously Listed on This Blog:
Cisco Systems Inc. of San Jose will invest $1 billion to help foster high-tech innovation in Russia. Cisco will establish a physical presence in a new Russian tech center and set up a second global headquarters for its emerging technologies group in Skolkovo. See the June 23, 2010 Associated Press story as carried by R&D Magazine: “Cisco commits $1B in meeting with Russian leader.” Also see the June 30 news release: “Virtual Computing Environment Coalition Helps Russian Customers Move to Cloud Computing.” An event like this does not belong on the California Disinvestment List. Sept. 23, 2010 update from the New York Times: “At Cisco Systems, the U.S. network equipment giant, what started as a research and development center in the Indian city of Bangalore now has the status of a second headquarters. Since 2007, numerous top-level managers have moved to Bangalore from San Jose, California, as the company seeks to position itself better for the immense changes taking place in emerging Asia.” See story: “Western Executives Discovering It Pays to Spend Time in Asia.”
Sage North America, HQ’d in Irvine, appears to be expanding its ERP X3 operations in Pennsylvania. The only notice available is a one-line item on Cranberry Township’s website. Go to its Department of Community Development page here – then to the drop-down for “What are they building?” – on the Sept. 9 update this cryptic note appears under the “Just Opened” category: “Sage of North America (Software firm) – 220 W. Kensinger Drive.” Until more specifics are available, this event does not belong on the California Disinvestment List.
Valeant of Aliso Viejo and Biovail of Canada will merge and rename itself Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. The resulting company, with about $1.75 billion in revenues and operations in eight other countries, will be headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, where Biovail is based. The location of the combined company’s U.S. headquarters will be determined after the close of the transaction. See: “Valeant and Biovail Agree to Merge.” also see the Orange County Register here. Until the company announces an outside-of-California location for its U.S. HQ, it would be premature to place the company on the list.
Google, HQ’d in Mountain View is in a “high growth” mode this year and has added about 2000 people to its global workforce of nearly 22,000 in many locations. One example is in Pittsburgh, Pa., where Google is expanding and moving employees from a small building on the Carnegie Mellon University campus to a new location with more room. (Carnegie Mellon also attracts other California companies to its campus including Intel, Apple and Disney.) See the WDUQ story “Google in Pittsburgh signals tech burst.” Such a relationship centered around a university located elsewhere present insufficient justification to add the event to the California Disinvestment List.
Ultra Clean in Hayward unveiled its first manufacturing facility in Singapore, which will be part of the company’s Asia-Pacific HQ and part of its expansion strategy for Asia. One of its major customers, Applied Materials, is in Singapore and it’s important for UCT to be located near them. See: “Ultra Clean Technology unveils plant in Woodlands.” Also see: “Ultra Clean Technology (UCT) Holds Singapore Opening Ceremony.” The company maintains manufacturing facilities in Austin, Texas; Portland, Ore.; and Shanghai. Note: This blog reported here that the customer Ultra Clean wants to remain near, Applied Materials, is expanding overseas while laying off U.S. employees. Since Ultra Clean wants to be near a U.S. company that made the disinvestment list, by extension it could be argued that Ultra Clean should also be on the list. However, considering the expansion strategy, the benefit of the doubt means that Ultra Clean is left off the California Disinvestment List.
King’s Hawaiian, based in Torrance, which makes sweet dinner rolls, will open a bakery and distribution center in Hall County, Georgia, creating 126 jobs over two years and potentially another 100 jobs by 2015. See the Sept. 8, 2010 Atlanta Journal-Constitution story, “King’s Hawaiian to produce signature rolls in Hall County.” The 111,000-square-foot facility is obviously part of an expansion strategy and is excluded from the California Disinvestment List.
LinkedIn of Mountain View acquired mSpoke, a social networking startup at Carnegie Mellon University. See the Aug. 4, 2010 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story, “CMU startup mSpoke acquired by LinkedIn.” Also see the (undated) news release: “LinkedIn Acquires mSpoke.” Acquisitions of companies located elsewhere are excluded from the California Disinvestment List unless they result in the closing of or a reduction in the scope of work at a California facility.
WebVisible, HQ’d in Irvine, is opening a technology and operations facility In Mumbai, India, where it expects to hire about 130 people over the next two years. The company states it’s designed to provide round-the-clock service to a worldwide customer and partner base. See the Aug. 29, 2010 news release: “WebVisible Opens Technology and Operations Facility in India – Enhancing Customer/Partner Support Across Global Time Zones.” It’s noteworthy that the company has held California and North Carolina job fairs in 2010, seeking to fill roughly 100 new positions, which justifies giving them the benefit of the doubt and excluding them from the California Disinvestment List.
Sanyo opened a solar ingot and wafer plant in Salem, Oregon, an $80 million facility with an expected employment level of about 200 by April 2010. The Portland Oregonian reported that the 130,000-sq. ft. factory has room to grow and company officials said the facility is critical to establishing a foothold in the solar market. See the story (NewsBank subscription required): “Sanyo solar plant opens in Salem.” However, who made the decision? And was investment deflected from California? Sanyo North American Corporation is HQ’d in San Diego and Sanyo Solar (U.S.A.) LLC is HQ’d in Carson – both of which are part of Sanyo in Japan. It’s impossible for an outsider to determine in which HQ the decision was made to locate a new “green” plant in Oregon instead of California. During the same week the Oregon story appeared, Nov. 3, 2009, Sanyo opened a new solar plant in Mexico. See: “Sanyo Celebrates Grand Opening of New Monterrey Solar Module Assembly Manufacturing Plant with Ceremony.” For all of the above reasons, it’s difficult to determine if decisions regarding Mexico and Oregon qualify for the California Disinvestment List and they therefore have been excluded. (Note: None of the decisions can be attributed to Panasonic, which didn’t take over ownership of Sanyo until December 2009.)
Condé Nast will close the Los Angeles editorial HQ for Bon Appétit magazine and mesh it into the company’s HQ in New York City. The Los Angeles Times reported: “The magazine has been based in Los Angeles since it’s founding in 1970” and with its readership of nearly 8 million it’s “one of the largest culinary magazines in the United States.” Consolidating the operation into Condé Nast’s existing offices will bring about efficiencies and operational cost savings. Hence, this move to New York can’t be attributed to the business-hostile environment found in California and in Los Angeles. See the Sept. 20, 2010 story: “Bon Appetit leaving L.A. for NYC; Fairchild out as editor.”
Freedom Financial Network LLC, HQ’d in San Mateo, will greatly slim down its Natomas office, near Sacramento, and lay off 120 employees in stages through March 2011. The Sacramento Bee reported that the cutbacks result from new Federal Trade Commission rules that create a cash flow problem. See the Sept. 17, 2010 story: “Freedom Financial will lop 120 workers here.” While it could be argued that conditions imposed by California contribute to the company’s cash-flow situations, it does appear that new FTC actions precipitated the event.
Other examples exist, but these are more than enough to illustrate that many events are, by design, left off of the California Disinvestment List.
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