Chamber Seeks to Counter Job Losses in Thousand Oaks

The loss of nearly 4,000 jobs in the Thousand Oaks area in the past two years has sparked a campaign by the Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce to lure new businesses to the region.

In addition to 2,000 jobs lost by Northrop Corp. and two other companies last year, the Chamber of Commerce reported Monday that other firms lost nearly 1,900 jobs between 1990 and 1991.

Stephen J. Rubenstein, chamber director, said he expects more jobs to fall by the wayside.

“Businesses are cost-cutting,” he said. “Now’s the time we’re going to see more . . . going out of business.”

The chamber has issued an annual report on jobs lost or gained by the largest manufacturers and non-manufacturing firms since 1984.

The information is compiled in an economic profile that the chamber distributes to firms interested in moving to the area. In addition to statistics on retail sales, the report tracks population growth.

This year, the recession made the report’s findings more dismal than it has been in more than a decade, Rubenstein said. Fourteen of the 32 employers named reported massive cutbacks in their work forces.

Apart from Northrop, not included in the report, the largest employer that lost jobs was State Farm Insurance in Westlake Village. Its work force of 2,137 in 1990 had decreased to only 1,000 jobs last year.

GTE California Inc. trimmed its staff in Thousand Oaks from 2,129 in 1990 to 1,904 last year, a loss of 225 jobs.

A GTE spokesman said the losses in the company reflect a decision to reduce the firm’s work force each year statewide by about 1,000 people. Most of the losses have been gained through attrition and early retirement, he said.

The chamber’s figures do not reflect jobs lost by companies that went out of business or relocated out of state.

Northrop last year shut down its Newbury Park plant and moved 1,800 manufacturing jobs to Hawthorne and Pico Rivera. Gigabit Logic of Thousand Oaks also moved its offices to Oregon, taking 85 jobs with it. Airborne Instruments Laboratories shut down its Westlake Village office.

Judy Lazar, a city councilwoman and member of the chamber’s economic development committee, said the recession has touched not only companies but many families in Thousand Oaks, including her own.

Lazar’s husband was laid off from his job at Airborne Instruments Laboratories after it closed in August. Fortunately, he was hired by another Thousand Oaks company soon afterward, she said.

“We all know people who have been laid off or cut back,” Lazar said.

Despite the loss of jobs elsewhere, the city has been able to fend off the worst consequences of the recession. Sales taxes generated by its regional shopping center, The Oaks Mall, and the Westlake Auto Center kept the city from having to make more severe cutbacks.

After announcing a layoff of 14 people last year, all but four were eventually hired back, officials have said.

Thousand Oaks Mayor Robert E. Lewis announced plans last month to appoint a special committee of business and city officials that would work on finding ways to attract more retailers and manufacturers to the area. Lewis was unavailable for comment on the chamber’s report Monday.

In an attempt to reverse the trend of companies trimming staffs or leaving the area, business leaders are outlining plans to lure new industries to Thousand Oaks, Rubenstein said.

The chamber’s economic development committee, made up primarily of business leaders, has been working to lure filmmaking companies and high technology industries to the Conejo Valley for some months, he said.

The committee chose to target filmmakers and the businesses that serve them, such as special-effects companies, because “it’s a very clean industry and labor-intensive,” he said.

The chamber also plans this year to produce and distribute a promotional video and printed materials to market the Conejo Valley, Rubenstein said.