Database Directs Customers to Oxnard Firms
In today’s competitive economic climate, doing a little can often amount to a lot.
That’s the thinking at the Greater Oxnard Economic Development Corp., which recently launched a program, Business Web, to help stimulate more business cooperation in the city.
Established last month, Business Web is little more than a computer database of Oxnard companies that area firms can use to find supplies, contract out work and form business partnerships.
“With it, we’re trying to keep business-to-business transactions local,” said EDC President Steve Kinney. “That, in and of itself, has a lot of benefits.”
Benefits that can help businesses trim costs and become more successful, which is the EDC’s mission, while increasing sales tax revenues for the city.
The free service also performs another, equally important task: It helps the EDC identify out-of-town firms that might be interested in relocating to the city.
Oxnard companies enrolling in the program are asked to list those firms outside the area with which they regularly do business that might be interested in increasing their local profile.
“That’s one of the other facets about this,” said program coordinator Elizabeth Callahan. “It gives us names and contacts that we might be able to use to get more business in the area.”
The program is just the latest in a string of largely successful attempts by the EDC to increase economic and business activity in Oxnard.
Since its formation in 1994, the independent, nonprofit group has worked to increase business development and expand business diversity and vitality.
At the time of its creation, the city had fallen on hard times amid the statewide recession of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Large firms, such as Abex, Raytheon, Ohneda and Nabisco had closed their doors, cutting more than 2,200 jobs.
During its first five years, the EDC has been successful in helping recoup the city’s economic losses.
The EDC assisted in creating more than 6,000 jobs and in attracting about $100 million in investment capital, according to a recent audit, and helped the city remold itself into a business-friendly community through a reduction in permits fees and speedier processing.
The EDC was also instrumental in getting Oxnard to rezone large swaths of land for commercial and industrial development in an effort to make the city more attractive to firms looking to relocate.
Those initiatives have had noticeable results.
Job growth in Oxnard between 1994 and 1997 stood at 7.9%, far outpacing countywide job growth of about 4% during the same period.
Although the Business Web program is simple compared to some of the EDC’s past initiatives, officials believe it will help the Oxnard economy continue to grow.
“It’s another tool we and other businesses can use,” Kinney said. “This is the kind of thing that they are looking for.”
The idea for the program came directly from Oxnard businesses, which often call the EDC looking for local business contacts.
Though businesses are just learning about the new service, Kinney believes that as word spreads, many will sign on.
John Hole of Aegir Systems said he joined Business Web because the service offered an opportunity for his company to not only save money, but to network and potentially develop successful partnerships with other area firms.
“It’s always preferable to deal with somebody locally,” said Hole, who directs business development for Aegir, an engineering and technical services provider. “It can save you money, but, more importantly, if you team up with one of them, it allows you to go after even bigger business.”
And that’s exactly the kind of response Kinney wants to hear.
“The more businesses we get involved in [the program], the better it will be,” he said.
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