City Mounts Campaign to Lure Firms : Thousand Oaks: A new committee will trumpet positive business conditions to keep and attract jobs.

Thousand Oaks has launched an effort to halt the flight of jobs out of the area by accentuating the positive.

“You hear Arizona pitch all of its good things, but no one talks about its problems, like the high cost of energy,” said Mayor Robert E. Lewis, who will head a newly formed committee charged with luring new companies and preventing existing firms from straying.

“Every area has its advantages and disadvantages. And we need to pitch our advantages.”

Last week, the city mailed two-page surveys to 3,000 local businesses asking owners to describe the size of their operations and their products. It also asks for complaints about everything from city services to lease agreements. All surveys are due Friday, and the results are expected by mid-October.

Until Thousand Oaks lost 1,800 jobs last year with the closure of Northrop Corp.’s Newbury Park manufacturing plant, city officials did little to lure industry, aside from placing ads in trade publications, Lewis said.

But the recession has made the courting of corporate newcomers more competitive everywhere.

Last month, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors agreed to hire an ombudsman to hear complaints from business owners and to help them through the permit process.

Camarillo’s Chamber of Commerce recently formed an ombudsman program to help new and existing businesses, a chamber official said.

And earlier this year, Simi Valley launched a campaign to woo new companies by offering financial help with fees and expediting development permits.

Simi Valley “has made a commitment in terms of resources and staff to work with prospective businesses of all sizes,” said Jim Hansen, assistant city manager in charge of economic development.

Lewis said Thousand Oaks is not yet prepared to offer companies financial incentives, nor is it willing to waive permits or fees.

Officials just want to find out which types of businesses are cutting back on workers and why, said Stacy Park, a city analyst in charge of economic development.

“Hopefully, the business community will let us know how we can serve them,” she said.

Lewis’ 20-member panel, the Blue Ribbon Economic Development Committee, includes several business leaders who also belong to the Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce, which has its own group to promote economic development.

Consultant Dan Overton said the chamber has had a longstanding goal of establishing a film commission to promote movie production in the Conejo Valley.

The chamber also hopes to produce a videotape to be used in marketing Thousand Oaks. The five-to-eight-minute video will be shown at trade group meetings and conferences. The $24,000 cost will be funded by private industry.

Some companies have indicated that they would use this videotape to recruit executives, Overton said.

Officials welcome the idea of the video as a first step. “You need to get their attention,” Overton said, “but we don’t expect anybody to believe that a video will be the answer.”

The city is concerned because job losses could translate into a drop in revenues that the administration draws upon to provide services. Sales-tax revenues usually decline in periods of economic stagnation.

Despite the worry, Thousand Oaks is suffering less than some parts of Ventura County. It was one of five cities in the county that generated higher sales-tax revenues last year than in 1990.

Jack Dwyer, a real estate broker for Brown Commercial Brokerage and a member of Lewis’ committee, said the area is fortunate because it boasts a healthy mix of retail, automobile and manufacturing outlets.

But the city’s luster as a safe and well-planned community is no longer the draw it used to be. Companies are leaving the area for reasons that city officials cannot control, he said.

Technicolor Videocassette Inc. in Newbury Park will move its operations and 530 jobs to Camarillo next year because it could not find a large enough building in Thousand Oaks.

Dwyer also cited a company president who recently told him that he wanted to move his firm out of state.

If that happens, the executive said, his company’s insurance would drop by 25%, workers’ compensation costs would be cut in half and utility costs would be lowered by more than two-thirds.

“He felt this was the best place to live, but it’s a dollars-and-cents decision,” Dwyer said.

But Dwyer believes that the city can promote land values in the area.

More than 25% of the community’s commercial space is vacant, Dwyer said. In two years, the average cost of commercial land has dropped by almost half, from $140 to $180 per square foot to $70 to $100.

Dwyer believes that the lower land value is one reason that Thousand Oaks will gain more jobs than it is losing.

Later this year, Baxter Healthcare Corp. will complete a 103,000-square-foot building in Newbury Park. Eventually, when the medical company carries out its plans to add about 300,000 square feet, it will have hired about 700 new workers.

And Amgen, a leading biotechnology firm, recently announced that it is considering buying the building that houses Thousand Oaks City Hall and expanding its staff of 1,265 people.

Since 1990, Amgen’s work force in Thousand Oaks has grown by about 57%, or 458 workers, said spokeswoman Kimberly Dorsey.

“We’re going to see continued growth” of about 20% a year for the next five years, she said. That amounts to about 250 jobs each year.

That trend is what keeps local business leaders upbeat. “It is true that we have lost some companies,” Dwyer said. “But overall, I think the Conejo Valley will end up the winner in the long run.”