defense and space, electronics, and environmental technologies. More than 11,000 people are employed in telecommunications alone.

Hailed as an economic triumph, in April, Gateway 2000, one of the largest personal computer manufacturers in the United States, announced plans to relocate its administrative headquarters from South Dakota to San Diego. After examining some 60 sites, Ted Waitt, Gateway's founding chairman and CEO said that the overall package of incentives exceeded the company's expectations and helped lead to the decision.

The company's primary reason for choosing San Diego, however, was executive recruitment.

"It's very difficult to recruit top executives to work in North Sioux City," he says. Plus, the company has recently purchased Advanced Logic Research Inc., a manufacturer of network servers based in Irvine.

San Diego's aerospace/aviation industry is especially flying high with the relocation of the Space and Naval Warfare Command (SPAWAR) from Crystal City, Va., to San Diego. SPAWAR is developing compatible links via computer software and hardware systems that link all military branches of the Armed Forces.

Northern California

Touting significantly lower costs for land, buildings, and employees than California's metropolitan areas, Shasta County reeled in Morpheus Lights of Santa Clara, the entertainment industry's top lighting design and manufacturing firm.

"Our employees are concerned about their daily commute to work and the cost of living," says Peter Dalton, Morpheus president. "Our company is concerned about the cost of doing business. Silicon Valley has become so expensive that we simply had to look elsewhere."

Yuba County is seeing activity surrounding the Yuba County Airport. Maryland-based American Wood Fibers has opened a 40,000 square foot plant there.

"We identified that the Northern California area was the best site for us," says Jeff Long, general manager of American Fiber.

A location close to eastbound and westbound freight traffic was especially appealing.

Weber Distribution, a third party logistics operator, recently moved into a new facility in Lathrop, in San Joaquin County. Weber Vice President and General Manager Al Remington refers to the location as a "bull's-eye hit."

"We analyzed the demographics to determine the greatest potential for business growth as well as greatest cost efficiency in terms of land and operations, then factored in labor availability," he says. "San Joaquin County was on the mark."

The company is already making plans for an expansion of its 127,000 square foot facility that would add 265,000 square feet.

Stockton Metropolitan Airport has attracted Airpower, Inc., the sole-source supplier of radial power plants for the California Department of Forestry's S-2 tanker fleet.

"The bottom line is, Stockton Airport is a very low risk place to invest because government doesn't interfere, government helps," says Airpower Vice President Todd Falconer.

Utility assistance
Utilities are continuing their effort to address business needs. One program that has been especially helpful to small start-up companies is Southern California Edison's establishment of six regional business incubators in Southern California. One at Cal Poly Pomona targets businesses in the materials recovery and recycling industries.

"We helped fund the Cal Poly incubator because it concentrates on growing businesses in an important and necessary field," said Barry R. Sedlik, Edison's manager of economic and business development.

For entrepreneurs and start-up firms, the utility offers assistance in developing business strategies and attracting venture capital. Rate incentives are also helping attract businesses and are partly why Panasonic Disc Services Corp. opened a second digital video disc (DVD) manufacturing plant in Torrance. The new facility is nearly twice as large as Panasonic's first Torrance plant, which opened in August 1997.