ANAHEIM : Compact Disc Maker Moves to Bigger Plant

To the applause of city officials, a maker of CD-ROMs and other types of compact discs has converted a former aerospace manufacturing plant for its own use and has begun operations there.

Disc Manufacturing Inc.’s move to a 220,000-square-foot facility on East La Palma Avenue that had been vacated by Rockwell International Corp. will boost tax revenue and create jobs, Anaheim Mayor Tom Daly said.

“This is an example of what we hope to see taking place throughout our industrial and commercial neighborhoods,” he said. “This is the type of company that will draw other companies into the vicinity.”

DMI previously occupied a 30,000-square-foot facility on Cosby Lane. Rapid growth in the compact disc industry prompted the company to search for a larger facility.

Elisa Stipkovich, executive director of the Community Development Department, said the city offered redevelopment assistance and a reduced utilities rate to help persuade DMI to stay in town. “They were looking elsewhere,” she said.

When DMI’s new facility is at full capacity this fall, the company expects to produce an average of 140,000 discs a day, a company spokesman said, about 75% of them CD-ROMs.

The company, which had more than $83 million in sales last year, has 170 employees and expects to add 130 more by 1997.