Teradyne to Expand, Hire 300 More Workers

Teradyne will soon expand its operation along the Ventura Freeway in Agoura Hills and Thousand Oaks, growing from three buildings to five.

By the end of the year, Teradyne expects to hire 300 new workers for its automatic test equipment manufacturing business. The company currently employs about 1,700 people in Agoura Hills.

Teradyne recently bought two buildings, at 29903 Agoura Road in Agoura Hills and 3500 Willow Lane in Thousand Oaks. Teradyne leased the Agoura Road building during the 1980s but moved out when it consolidated its operations in the three buildings it now occupies between Reyes Adobe and Lindero Canyon roads.

The Willow Lane building was formerly occupied by GTEL. The two new buildings will add about 200,000 square feet to the 360,000 that Teradyne currently occupies.

Wayne Ponik, Teradyne vice president and site manager for the Agoura Hills operation, said the company’s expansion results from the rapid growth of the electronics industry.

“Inside every personal computer, TV or entertainment system are components that have to be tested before they’re shipped,” he said. “The companies that manufacture those components--circuit boards, memory and logic chips--are Teradyne’s customers.”

Teradyne is the largest automatic test equipment company in the United States.

The need to expand became apparent early last spring, company officials said. At first, the plan was to buy only one of the two available buildings, but the steady influx of new orders convinced the group that it should think bigger and purchase both sites immediately.