Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Shortcut to Work : New Telecommuting Center in Lancaster Fully Occupied

While telecommuting may not be enjoying the widespread popularity that was expected after the Jan. 17 quake, it is alive and well in the Antelope Valley where commutes were hellish even before the 6.8 temblor crippled Southland freeways.

A telebusiness center that opened in Lancaster last month is already full, with all 40 of its workstations being used by employees of a pair of San Fernando Valley firms who live in the Antelope Valley.

Los Angeles County, in conjunction with donations from a host of private businesses and a $130,000 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, opened the center after the Northridge quake. It is the second county-run telecommuting center in the Antelope Valley.

“We nearly tripled the work space,” said Supervisor Mike Antonovich at a ceremony Wednesday to mark last month’s opening of the Antelope Valley Telebusiness Center. “Of course, Mother Nature has helped with this effort.”

The effort also is helping Mother Nature. Officials estimate the 40 telecommuters are driving 25,000 less miles a week, keeping about 700 tons of pollutants out of the atmosphere.

The county’s first telecommuting center in the Antelope Valley, which opened more than a year ago with 20 workstations, is only about half full, said Suzette Cecchini, on-site administrator for the two centers.

She said the high vacancy rate may be because a fee is being charged, something that had not been done during the first year the center was open. Users of the center are charged $20 per day, although she said any new user who signs a six-month lease will get three of those months for free.

Despite the available space at the county center and the impending reopening of the Antelope Valley Freeway, local officials contend that a lot of interest in telecommuting remains in the Antelope Valley, a bedroom community that is home to as many as 60,000 commuters.

“There’s nothing but advantages to it,” said Bruce Latta, manager of the Antelope Valley Fair, which is nearing completion of its telecommuting center.

The fair decided after the Northridge quake to establish a center, which is expected to open in June with 20 workstations and room for as many as 52 more, Latta said.

He said that the federal government is interested in using the center and will probably have three or four people working from it by July 1. Private companies also have expressed interest in reserving space at the center, although Latta declined to release their names since no contracts have been signed.

There hasn’t been much time to promote the center, said Latta, adding that a lot of companies are still not sold on the concept of telecommuting.

For those who do it, there’s no better way to work.

Zelda Diamond said her quality of life has increased dramatically since she began working from the county’s telebusiness center.

“I’m so happy,” said Diamond, a Lake Los Angeles resident who works for Woodland Hills-based Health Net. “Physically, I feel better.”

Before she began telecommuting, Diamond said she would spend three to fours a day getting to and from her job, a trip that increased to four to six hours after the quake.

“I was feeling really weary, really drained,” she said.

Patrick Monast said he is a better worker since he started telecommuting, rather than driving each day from his Palmdale home to his Woodland Hills job.

“I’m better rested,” he said. “I don’t have to wake up at 4:30 in the morning anymore. I would get to work and head right for the coffee.”

Monast said now that his “office” is just 15 minutes from his home he can spend more time with his children and even gets home early enough to barbecue, something that was impossible before he began telecommuting.