Pomona Welcomes Plans for Hughes-Avicom Move

Pomona scored an economic coup this week, announcing that a division of Hughes Aircraft Co. with 600 employees will relocate to the city.

Hughes-Avicom, which makes video and audio entertainment gear for commercial airline carriers, plans to consolidate several offices by May in a renovated Pomona facility.

Hughes-Avicom will move into part of a 180-acre site vacated by another Hughes subsidiary in 1992, when Hughes Missile Systems Co.--Pomona’s second largest employer at the time--pulled up stakes and took 2,000 jobs to Tucson, Ariz.

“We’re pretty excited,” said Darrell J. George, who heads up Pomona’s Economic Development Department. “It brings some life and activity to that part of town.”

Pomona’s gain will be Glendora’s loss.

About 200 employees now work for Hughes-Avicom at a Glendora facility, said Stanley Wong, the city’s director of planning and redevelopment, and their departure will hurt local business.

“They’re not one of our biggest employers, but this will have an impact in terms of food service, small satellite stores, dry cleaners and banks,” Wong said.

Pomona officials said that the wooing of Hughes Avicom is the first step toward revitalizing the vacant facility once occupied by General Dynamics.

Hughes acquired General Dynamics in 1992 and promptly announced it would move all its missile production to Tucson.

Pomona officials say Hughes Avicom will occupy a 15-acre office site on West Mission Boulevard, former home of Hughes Missile Systems, settling into the first two floors of a three-story, 280,000-square-foot building.