Business Good in Simi Office of Hirose Electric

Business at Hirose Electric (USA) Inc., a producer of electric and fiber-optic connectors, is up 10% since the company moved into a newly built plant in Simi Valley a year ago.

Peter H. Stevens Jr., vice president and general manager, said he expects sales to continue to benefit from the worldwide telecommunications explosion.

“Our products may not be as exciting as on-demand video, but they’re used almost everywhere,” he said. “You’re using a connector whenever you link a personal computer to a company-wide system, or whenever you plug a telephone into a jack.”

Hirose is a subsidiary of Hirose Electric Ltd., a Tokyo-based firm with $400 million in annual sales. The Ventura County unit has 50 employees, about half of whom assemble connectors in the firm’s year-old 40,000-square-foot building on Westhills Court.

The rest of the staff market the parent firm’s products throughout North and South America.

At one point, Hirose (USA) considered relocating to San Diego or Oregon, but the firm decided to stay in Simi Valley because of its convenience to Los Angeles, Stevens said.

Before moving into its own plant in May, 1992, the company was headquartered in a leased building on Park Center Drive in Simi Valley.