Chamber Chief Arrives to Chart a Course for O.C. : KENNETH E. MOORE

When Kenneth E. Moore was president and chief executive of the Chamber of Commerce in Norman, Okla., his job was to persuade companies to relocate there from other states.

Moore attracted a number of them, and his success led him to a high-visibility job as executive vice president of the Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce in Oklahoma City, a position he held for the past seven years.

Now, Moore is bringing his recruiting talents to California. On Thursday, he arrived to take over as president and chief executive of the Orange County Chamber of Commerce.

In his new position, he said, he must not only persuade companies in other states--such as Oklahoma--to locate their operations here. He must also try to stem the flow of businesses and jobs out of Orange County to other states and even other countries.

In a Thursday interview, Moore, 48, discussed programs and priorities.

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Q: What did your organization do to retain and expand jobs in Oklahoma that can be applied in Orange County?

A: On the state level, the Oklahoma Legislature enacted legislation that would provide a $500-per-job tax credit for those Oklahoma industries that would expand their employment.

Locally, we visited the offices and factories on a regular basis in an attempt to get an early warning if there was some problem, such as getting adequate utility services, transportation and trouble with attracting certain kinds of employees. This provided good communication, which I believe is a critical element of a job retention and expansion program.

What we also did was to focus on our strengths, which included Oklahoma’s central geographic location in the nation, and then look to see what the University of Oklahoma was known for. We proceeded to attract companies that would likely benefit from the university’s specialization to locate to Norman.

What will happen in Orange County is that we will look to see what strengths we have and use those strengths to determine which companies would be most compatible with our area. UC Irvine, which is known for biotechnology, is an example on which we could potentially build a recruitment program for biotech companies in the future.

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Q: What are your immediate plans for the chamber?

A: I’m going to be listening a lot to a variety of individuals, businesses and government leaders to understand more specifically about the problems being faced by Orange County and specifically why jobs are being lost.

We’re going to have to determine whether we should place a priority on the retention of the existing industry and encouraging them to expand or whether we should emphasize the attraction of new jobs to the area or perhaps a combination of both initiatives.

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Q: How soon will you come up with a plan?

A: Between now and Jan. 1, we’re going to be developing--in concert with the chamber’s board of directors and business leaders--an economic program of action for 1993.

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Q: Is government participation essential to the chamber’s recruitment program?

A: I think partnership in all levels is essential to a successful economic development effort. This includes city, county, state and federally elected officials.

In Norman, for example, we had a fairly aggressive program in which we took representatives from the business community, the university and elected officials with us on trips to other states, promoting the city as a good location for business and industry.

We worked with the State Department of Commerce to participate in trade missions it sponsors and we also participated in an economic development task force which was headed by our congressman.

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Q: How would you compare your budget and staffing here with what you had in Oklahoma?

A: I can compare Orange County to my experience in Norman. The Norman chamber’s annual budget was $385,000, and I had a staff of nine people, including myself. The budget came largely from our membership, which totaled 1,500.

Our budget here is about $1 million, which is more than double that of our budget in Norman, but we have about the same number of members, and I have seven staff members, including myself.

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Q: Do you think the county chamber’s budget is enough to enable you to pursue the types of programs you plan?

A: We’re presently reviewing the budget, and as we plan the program for 1993 we’ll be attempting to adjust our budget to be in line with our program priorities. It’s my hope that more of our resources will be directed toward an expanded economic development effort, specifically as it relates to job retention, job expansion and recruitment.