Carlsbad Was a Finalist for Firm, But Nobody Knew

It was a pivotal moment for this coastal city: A consortium of America’s leading defense contractors was seeking a home base, and a site in an industrial park southeast of downtown Carlsbad was the favorite of two finalists nationwide.

Acting as a centerpiece for the city’s changing economy, the prestigious, high-profile Software Productivity Consortium (SPC) was expected to create 200 jobs, serve as a magnet for other industry, and effectively put this burgeoning North County community on the high-tech map.

But there was a hitch--nobody in Carlsbad knew about it.

“I didn’t find out until the day before their final decision,” said City Manager Frank Aleshire. “A reporter called and asked whether I thought SPC or SDE or whatever it’s called would be a good thing for Carlsbad. I said, ‘Well I don’t know, what in the heck is SPC?’ ”

Mayor Mary Casler was equally surprised: “I think I read about it in The Times.”

Others in the dark included Carlsbad’s planning staff and the entire City Council. The Chamber of Commerce “had a hunch they were looking at us,” but was never officially informed, said Doug Yavanian, the chamber’s executive vice president.

In the end, SPC officials chose a site in Fairfax County, Va., over the Koll Co.’s Carlsbad Research Center. But the issue remains: Why weren’t the top city officials in Carlsbad enlisted in the effort to land the consortium, or at the very least told that SPC was eyeing their park as a possible home?

“If I had to do it again, I would involve the City of Carlsbad to get that additional support,” said Mike Dunigan, a Koll vice president. “But at the time, the SPC site selection committee was talking to governors and senators, not to city councilmen.”

The level of competition for the consortium was so high, Dunigan said, that a letter from the mayor of Carlsbad was not a “marketing technique we chose to employ.”

Carlsbad officials seem to understand such reasoning, and say--at least publicly--that they aren’t miffed about being excluded from efforts to bring the high-powered consortium to their hometown.

“I learned long ago that the bigwigs don’t like to talk to us small-fry city officials,” Aleshire said.

Yavanian added: “If I were just starting out in this business, I’d take these things personally and my ego would be bruised. But not now.”