Modem-Maker Relocates

Practical Peripherals Inc., a producer of modems and other computer-related products, has moved to a new plant in Thousand Oaks, giving the company nearly twice the space it had in its former home in Westlake Village. And, the company says, it’s in a hiring mode.

“We’re looking for people across-the-board, but especially for manufacturing and marketing positions,” spokeswoman Nancy Stokesberry said.

Practical Peripherals, a subsidiary of privately held Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc. of Norcross, Ga., does not disclose sales figures, but Stokesberry said several hundred workers are employed in the firm’s new 70,000-square-foot facility on Conejo Ridge Avenue.

In addition to modems, which allow computers to send material over phone lines to fax machines and other computers, the company produces printer buffers, which store large volumes of material to be printed, freeing computers for other projects.

“We have been growing throughout the recession and expect our sales to be even stronger now that the economy is improving,” Stokesberry said.

The company estimated that by the end of 1992, it will be among the top three producers of modems.