CHARLES PASKERIAN / Representative, Spokane Area Economic Development Council
Charles Paskerian lives in Orange County but spends his days wooing California businesses to Spokane as a representative of the Spokane Area Economic Development Council. Paskerian, 60, founded and managed a Santa Ana plastics manufacturer called Flexipak for 20 years. He said urgent action by local and state leaders is needed to stop California’s business drain. Far from being disloyal, he helps the state by forcing it to face its shortcomings, Paskerian said in a conversation with Times correspondent Debora Vrana.
*
You’ve lived in Orange County for more than 30 years, yet you tell our businesses they should move to Spokane, Wash. Doesn’t that make you a traitor of sorts?
It’s not me, I’m not doing this. The manufacturers want to get out of here. It’s the burdensome regulations and the attitudes of local and state administrative leaders who are driving them away. Most of these companies have already decided they are going to move before I speak with them. For them it’s just a question of whether it’s going to be Spokane or Phoenix.
I am a U.S. citizen first and then a Californian. And I am very concerned about the future of U.S. manufacturing, which continues to diminish throughout the United States. The point is we want our country to be as strong as it can be. And hopefully as a result of this California will become stronger. California must recognize that it is not meeting the needs of the manufacturing community.
*
How do you imagine taking businesses away from California could make the state stronger?
It won’t help the state, but hopefully what it will do for the state of California is make it recognize how serious the problem is. How bad does it have to get before they take action? How far down does it have to go before they (state officials) address the major functional issues?
*
But are state leaders getting the message you are trying to send?
It’s kind of like the automobile industry. We all saw how far down the auto industry went before it decided to make a car comparable in quality with the imports. It’s almost like a heroin addict or someone with an addiction. How far down do they have to go?
I don’t think state officials are addressing the problems, but I think that is because they don’t know what to do.
*
Does all the recent attention given to keeping businesses in California make your job difficult?
At this point I don’t think the business retention programs are as strong as they should be. That’s part of the problem. They are are trying to gear up, but what are they doing?
They have a program “Stay alive til ’95.” That particular program to me is nonsense. Because the economy may pick up, but the economy is not the basic problem. The problem is the regulations to the businesses. And if a business in Los Angeles stays alive until 1995, fine, but that’s not an answer. Business are looking for changes in the regulations and not foolish regulations.
And it’s my opinion that when business does pick up and manufacturers have more money to operate with, you’re going to see more companies leaving the state, if the state is not responsive to solving the regulatory problem.
*
What about local efforts to keep businesses here by Partnership 2010 or the Orange County Economic Development Consortium?
These are marvelous people and they are doing good things. And Orange County is better than many counties in terms of retention efforts. However, there are two issues that debilitate their ability to perform. The first issue is that they are limited by state regulations. The second is that there are many other areas, and Spokane is not one of them, that are offering huge perks to move there. The problem with that is someone eventually has to pay for those perks.
*
What is the pitch you give California companies?
I don’t consider it a sales pitch; it’s a communication of the facts of what we have compared to what they are involved in. The first issue is quality-of-life issues, including schools, housing, cost of living compared to bottom-line business issues. It’s not something you sell to someone because it’s a major undertaking, they aren’t only moving their family, they are moving their business.
*
How do you find companies who are interested in leaving the state?
It’s not very hard. At the present time more than one-third of California companies are interested in relocation. Essentially what I do is network with people I know, because I was in the business world.
*
What are the major complaints you hear from businesses?
The primary complaint is workers’ compensation costs, which are double what they are in many other states. Then the regulations, city, county and state. And the overlapping of regulations and the contradictory situations that a manufacturer will get into.
*
How many companies are you working with on relocating right now?
About 20, with about 10 in Orange County. Most of them with 25 to 50 employees. One of the owners in Orange County, his primary concern is crime. Another is an owner of a machine-parts company in the mid-county area with about 40 employees. He needs a skilled work force to operate sophisticated machines, but he’s having training difficulties because workers have poor language skills and are poorly educated.
*
What could Spokane offer that business owner?
This manufacturer really needs highly skilled workers. The education system here is not providing the skilled factory workers to operate the complex computer-driven machines. Spokane has vocational programs with the highest state-of-the-art equipment at the community college level to train the workers. It’s a more hands-on environment.
*
On Spokane’s attraction. . .
“The cost of living there is about 30% less than the cost of living in Southern California. The houses are half the cost, the schools are often superior and there is less stress. And the wages are within 10% of Orange County wages and there is no income tax.”
*
On bureaucracy. . .
“California has always had an imperious bureaucracy. Even when I started my business in 1966 I had evidence of this, but then the economy was stronger and I could still make a profit.”
*
On why he doesn’t live in Spokane. . .
“Well, I’ve been here a long time. I may move, but of course my work is here. But I would like to have a place up there. It’s lovely.”
*
On his family. . .
“Several of my sons are seriously looking at leaving the state. They are not critical of what I do, because they are looking at quality-of-life issues and where they want to make their lives.”
