Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : $310,900 in Grants Raised for : Planned Telecommuting Center : Work: A Valencia Industrial Park site will offer standard office equipment, taking vehicles off the road and boosting productivity, it is hoped.

A select group of commuters may have their daily drive time slashed by a couple of hours next year.

The Santa Clarita Valley Transportation Management Assn. has secured $310,900 in grants for the first of two telecommuting centers in the Valencia Industrial Park.

The centers will include telephones, computers, facsimile machines, photocopiers and other office equipment necessary to work out of a satellite office in Valencia rather than travel to faraway sites, said Gary Johnson, president of the Valencia Industrial Assn.

“It’s going to be an exciting project because it’s going to allow individuals to come into the park to do work rather than go to Los Angeles,” Johnson said.

The association is helping secure equipment and technical support and market the center that will aim to serve regular and infrequent users. The transit-management group’s center is expected to serve 20 employees and will be operational by January, Johnson said.

Telecommuting supporters say the practice helps improve air quality by taking vehicles off roads and boosts employee productivity by avoiding stressful commutes. Although the practice originally focused on working out of the home, telecommuting centers have started to appear as a compromise, offering shorter commutes while providing standard office equipment and consistent work environment.

Los Angeles County’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority awarded grants of $152,600 for 1994 and $158,300 for 1995 to “jump-start” the Santa Clarita project, said Mark Deerking, an MTA project manager. Funds were made available through local sales taxes.

Santa Clarita’s large number of residents who travel outside the valley to work and the transportation-management association’s pledge of $163,000 in private donations earned the grant funding, Deerking said.

“That says to us Santa Clarita and the business sector of Santa Clarita are serious, really want this and will use it,” Deerking said, calling the area ideal for telecommuting.

The combination of grant funds and private donations is expected to cover the costs of the center, eliminating the need to charge rent for the first year.

A second telecommuting center is being planned by Pacific Bell, the Newhall Land & Farming Co. and two consulting firms. Although it has no grant funding, it is also expected to be located in the Valencia Industrial Park and to expand as demand grows.