Simi Valley : Whittaker Division Lays Off 40 Workers

A Simi Valley manufacturer of industrial cable has laid off a third of its work force, prompting a councilwoman to warn that the city must do more to hold on to its job base.

Whittaker Electronic Resources, a division of Torrance-based Whittaker Corp., gave pink slips this week to 40 of the 125 workers it employs at its Surveyor Avenue plant, a company official said Friday.

No additional layoffs are planned, said Ross Roads, a vice president of the Simi Valley firm. He called the cutback a “strategic reorganization” but declined to discuss the company’s business plans in any more detail.

The firm manufactures heavy-duty cable used by nuclear power plants, oil refineries and drilling platforms.

The layoffs do not affect Whittaker Electronic Systems, a second division in Simi Valley that employs 325 workers and manufactures aerospace electronics, spokeswoman Sue Thomas said.

Councilwoman Judy Mikels, a member of the city’s Economic Vitality Committee, said the Whittaker cuts alone were not a major problem, but she warned that they signal a possible decline in the city’s revenue base.

“Every cutback is a problem, but is this one significant?” Mikels said. “No. Is it scary for the future? Yes.”

Mikels said the weak economy, reductions in defense spending, and the high cost of doing business in Ventura County have combined to force major companies to cut back or move away.

“It’s a scary situation, and it took the crisis of the economic downturn to wake everybody up,” Mikels said. “Businesses can’t carry the weight any longer.”

Despite the competition from other states that have tried to woo businesses from Southern California, Mikels said the Whittaker cutbacks would not seriously affect Simi Valley.

“Luckily for Simi, we have a diversified economy,” she said.