Defense Conversion

The national laboratory system has been at the center of the debate over shifting money from defense projects to civilian commercial programs and in targeting government and private investment to boost the competitiveness of U.S. industry. Critics have complained for years that far too much of the federal research budget--which totals more than $70 billion annually--is devoted to military projects.

The phrase "eliminate the middle man" has been used so commonly that it has reached cliche status. But there are times when the intermediaries are important and deserve recognition. This time, it's the Valley Economic Development Center. You may recall, from last Sunday, our Valley Perspective editorial that noted a $205,000 loan from a U.S. Commerce Department program to De Leon Enterprises of Pacoima. The loan program was important for two reasons.

As he seeks ways to help California overcome its addiction to military spending, Bill Clinton shows signs of adopting approaches that could turn the Golden State into a permanent welfare state. At the heart of this welfarist strategy is "defense conversion." In contrast to his New Democrat entrepreneurial rhetoric during the campaign, the President's budding economic plans for the state seem the product of a vision of California as a society of "victims" in need of federal largess.

A bipartisan delegation of more than 35 members of the California Legislature will go to Washington next week to meet with President Clinton, his top officials and House Speaker Newt Gingrich to discuss immigration, defense conversion-base closure, crime and welfare reform. Led by Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) and Senate President Pro Tem Bill Lockyer (D-Hayward), the lawmakers are scheduled to meet with Clinton sometime during their three-day visit that begins Monday.

Facing continuing cutbacks in military spending, Ventura County officials are seeking to develop a strategy to help local defense industries diversify to better adapt to the commercial marketplace. The Board of Supervisors today will consider approving a $118,000 contract with a San Francisco-based consulting firm to develop a long-range plan to assist aerospace, electronic and other high-tech industries that depend on defense contracts.

In a move to stabilize an economy hard hit by defense downsizing, U.S. Commerce Department Secretary Ron Brown on Friday presented a $250,000 check to a small electronics manufacturing company to help convert its defense-related products to consumer goods. Brown's visit to Industrial Electronic Engineers Inc. kicked off a weekend of meetings and presentations to promote the Commerce Department's defense conversion project.

The Clinton Administration announced Friday that Rockwell International in Canoga Park and Burbank-based Calstart will receive a total of about $7 million in federal defense conversion funds under its much-touted national program. The money, part of a $2.5-billion program to adapt defense technology to commercial use, is the first to go to San Fernando Valley-area firms.

Frank Power watched sales dwindle for five years at his Anaheim aerospace shop--with employment dropping by almost half to 82 workers early this year--before he decided to act. Using his aerospace technology, he launched the production of a new line of hot tubs, and now the firm is back up to 140 workers and running three shifts.

In an agreement with three Japanese companies, a small high-tech firm in San Dimas will develop and build a device that will continuously show a driver the vehicle's exact location on a computer map. Magellan Systems and the three Japanese companies will share the costs of developing the product, but Magellan will maintain all rights and ownership to the technology.

The Senate approved a $1.2-billion "defense conversion" program Friday designed to help ease the effect of Pentagon spending cuts on the economy, but the impact was expected to be modest, with no immediate relief for hard-hit Southern California.