Relocation Strategy : Consortium’s Message to O.C. Firms at Conference Is Simple: ‘Hang in There’

When 34 other states begin wooing Southern California companies today with a siren song of lower taxes, less crime and cheaper labor costs, local business groups won’t be standing idly by.

They, too, will be making a plea to more than 200 Southland companies that have signed up for Trends 2000, a two-day business relocation conference at the Anaheim Marriott. Alongside recruiters from states as far away as Florida and Vermont will be development officials determined to keep jobs and revenue right here.

“We’re not going to sit back and take it anymore,” said Bob Bunyan, whose Orange County Economic Development Consortium plans to have a booth at the expo. “Orange County is going to fight for its jobs.”

The consortium’s booth will be next to that of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. San Diego economic development officials are also expected at the conference, sponsored by business relocation concern PHH Fantus Corp. in Chicago.

If all 200 companies attend, the conference will be substantially larger than a similar one held in Anaheim in July, when leaders from about 140 companies showed up, said Dennis Carruth, who is producing the trade show independently.

The high level of interest, he said, reflects how little California has done to keep businesses.

“The state hasn’t made any practical moves to get companies to stay here,” said Carruth, who is based in Carlsbad.

Since mid-1990, recessionary cutbacks and business relocation have cost more than 900,000 jobs from a base of 14.4 million. As California has stumbled, other states have become more aggressive in luring the state’s companies, he said.

“What’s sad about this is I don’t think these companies want to leave,” said Robert M. Ady, president of PHH Fantus. “They love California, but they just don’t think they can do business here anymore. That’s a traumatic decision for them to make.”

Few large companies will be attending the conference. Most will be the small and mid-size firms that are California’s business base, Ady said. There is no single reason for them to consider leaving, he said. Each situation is different.

A recent UC Irvine study found that companies looking to relocate cite transportation problems, lack of affordable housing, land and building costs, cumbersome environmental regulations and difficulty in finding skilled labor as the chief reasons for wanting to go.

“There are almost as many reasons as there are companies attending,” Ady said. “They are fed up with the fear, . . . the long-term perspective for their companies if they continue to operate in this state, and fear in terms of bodily or personal harm.”

The Orange County coalition volunteers say that, even if they can’t talk companies into staying, they hope to hear what businesses need to thrive here.

“We wanted to send the message to our companies that we care about them and we want them to stay,” Bunyan said. “We want to listen to our companies and see what they are saying about Orange County and California--criticism, comments and even applause.”

The Orange County message, he said, will be simple: “Hang in there.”

Leaving for Greener Pastures

Since 1989, more than 390 corporations have left Southern California, taking 66,000 employees with them. A survey of 200 Orange County chief executives found that 10% plan to relocate their companies outside the county within the next five years. Here’s why firms are staying put or leaving: Why They Go: Transportation problems: 90% Lack of affordable housing: 84% Land costs: 74% Building costs: 68% Environmental regulations: 58% Difficulty hiring skilled labor: 53% Note: Total is more than 100% because of multiple responses.

Why They Stay: Available work force, services: 26% Good place to live: 20% Growth area, diverse economy: 16% Customers are here: 14% Central location: 11% Local affluence: 7% Other: 6% Source: Orange County Executive Survey, UC Irvine