Ventura County Ranks 20th in U.S. for High-Tech Jobs

Ventura County ranked 20th out of 60 metropolitan areas in the country for the number of high-tech workers per 1,000 residents, according to a new study conducted by the American Electronics Assn. and Nasdaq.

The county ranked 30th for venture capital investments and 39th for average high-tech wages, according to the study, which includes figures through 1998.

The association will use the information to help guide new companies to areas with existing technology industries, said Alberta Hultman, a group spokeswoman.

Much of the growth in Southern California has come from Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks and Camarillo, she said. When 1999 and 2000 figures are available, Ventura County should rank even higher, Hultman said.

Of the 60 areas surveyed, Ventura County ranked 47th for the percentage of high-tech growth and 58th for the total number of high-tech jobs.

San Jose with its Silicon Valley was the leading cyber city with 253,000 technology workers. Silicon Valley also led the way for its $21.5 billon in annual payroll and 4,773 technology companies doing business. Though Ventura County has fewer companies, Hultman said it’s growing at a steady pace, adding more than 2,000 technology jobs since 1993. San Jose added 67,200 jobs in that same five-year period.

Still, even making the list is an accomplishment, said Jim Jevens, Camarillo’s economic development director.

“We’ve worked as a regional team toward technology recruitment, retention and business expansion,” he said, referring to a team of city and county leaders responsible for courting such companies.

According to the association study, 655 technology companies are along the Ventura Freeway, also known as the high-tech corridor. The companies account for an estimated $804 million a year in payroll.

High-tech jobs also mean people who spend money, Jevens said, as those employees make and spend more.

That means more sales tax money, on which many cities depend, Jevens said. In Camarillo, that money has gone for everything from a new skateboard park to upgrades on city-owned computer equipment.

Over the last five years, about 300 national and international technology companies have moved into the area, he added.

One reason they come to the area is that it has room to grow. That lured Semtech to Camarillo from Newbury Park last year, Jevens said, and the company should have 650 employees in Camarillo when the building is finished.

Advanced Motion Controls has been expanding its 87,000-square-foot headquarters, resulting in an estimated 50 new jobs. Technicolor, one of the world’s largest video and compact disc duplication centers, finished a 472,000-square-foot building in eastern Camarillo six months ago. EOS, a company that makes motion control and power pack systems for computers, doubled in size when it opened a new facility on Flynn Road. And company leaders at Zebra, makers of thermal printing machines, are adding a 30,000-square-foot addition onto their 160,000-square-foot building off Flynn Road.

In addition to having more high-tech workers living, working and spending money in the county, the area ranks 20th out of 60 cities for the number of residents with Internet access. San Jose ranked No. 1, and Colorado Springs, Colo., placed second.

Business has been booming for Coastal Web, an Internet service provider based in Sacramento with 3,500 connections in this area.

Owner Mike Arciero said the number of home connections has a lot to do with the standard of living, and lower computer prices.