THOUSAND OAKS : Backers of Business Cluster Woo Firms

Organizers of a new nonprofit Thousand Oaks program to help fledgling environmentally sensitive companies recruited new corporate sponsors Wednesday during a luncheon at the Civic Arts Plaza.

Key backers--including GTE, Southern California Edison and the city of Thousand Oaks--urged Conejo Valley businesses to support the novel effort to keep alive small companies that use recycled products, create software for environmental programs or improve the environment in some way.

Officials said they need $125,000 to open the Thousand Oaks Environmental Business Cluster.

“This is a project that will pay for itself once it is up and running,” organizer Karen Livesay told the crowd of about 50.

Organizers hope to house as many as 20 small businesses in an 11,000-square-foot building loaned and being renovated by GTE on Lombard Street.

Below-market rents will be charged and the tenants will have access to numerous data banks and libraries across the country. Bookkeeping and word processing services along with management training will also be provided, organizers said.

“It will help create jobs and remove the risk of starting a new business,” Thousand Oaks Mayor Jaime Zukowski said.

On Tuesday the City Council is expected to approve a $15,000 donation to the program, which has received $50,000 in pledges so far.

GTE’s Steve Wright, another organizer, said he has received about 20 rental applications from businesses so far, ranging from a tree planter to a manufacturer of playground equipment that uses recycled material.

“We’re still in the filtering process,” he said. He said tenants are expected to leave the cluster after they are prospering to make room for another batch of start-up firms.

Once opened, the business cluster will only be the second such program in the state. A similar program opened in San Jose about seven months ago.

“It created a focal point for the environmental industry in the community,” said Jim Robbins, who developed the San Jose program and now directs it. He said 20 businesses employing 45 people are in the San Jose program.

To apply or for more information, call 529-4534.