Rockwell Expansion Causing Growing Pains

Rockwell International Corp.’s semiconductor unit in Newport Beach has seriously outgrown its campus on Jamboree Road. To accommodate the hundreds of new employees and several new divisions added in recent years, the company has spilled across several parking lots and into two large glass office towers that previously had been home to an assortment of other businesses.

Employees who have to walk--and walk and walk--to get from building to building say that getting around these days requires a lot of time and the agility of a broken field runner. To cut down on the time lost to commuting between buildings--and to keep employee energy levels high for the jobs they do--Rockwell is about to install a shuttle tram to help people get from place to place.

How much has the semiconductor unit grown? Well, the payroll has grown by 30% in the past 12 months--to 2,300 employees--and President Dwight Decker says he’s still looking for 500 new engineers.

Fueling the growth has been the explosive demand in the telecommunications industry for Rockwell’s fax-modem chip sets. Rockwell says its chips provide the heart of about 65% of the world’s modems for personal computers and facsimile machines. The company also makes chips for satellite-based navigation and location-finding system and is working on products for the cordless phone market as well.

John O’Dell covers major Orange County corporations, manufacturing and economic issues for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-5831 and at john.odell@latimes.com