Oxnard Ca Industry

For a good long stretch, Alfonso Suarez lived a farm worker's dream. Nearly two decades ago, the 44-year-old Mexican immigrant stepped out of the fields and into a job at an Oxnard cannery that has supplied steady work and generous paychecks to generations of local residents. Back then, he remembers thinking that he had punched his ticket to lifetime employment.

City officials welcomed Halaco Engineering to a beach on the community's southern tip 35 years ago. In a city then thirsting for growth, the metal recycler seemed a good fit: The site was a former dump, it was far from where people lived and from potable ground water, and the company would bring dozens of new jobs. Now, however, the factory and the huge slag heap growing next to it are viewed as the biggest environmental thorn in the city's side.

Expansion of the Oxnard plant of Procter & Gamble Paper Products Co. is 40% complete and should be finished ahead of schedule by early 1993, according to company spokesman Bob Paulger. "We've probably saved two months and about $2 million in costs because of the efficiency of city personnel who processed our permits," Paulger said. The number of employees expected to be hired as part of the expansion has been raised 10%, to 220, he said.

Take a little ammonium and sprinkle in some nitrates, and what you've got is a recipe for success. At least that's the hope of officials from the Oxnard Harbor District. They joined about 50 city and county representatives and friends of the Port of Hueneme on Tuesday to officially open a new liquid fertilizer terminal that will be used to support the regional and statewide agriculture industry.

Oxnard has failed to make a short list of locations being considered for a can-manufacturing plant by a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch Cos. "I'm afraid the city isn't close enough to our brewery in Van Nuys," says Mark Armstrong, a spokesman for Metal Container Corp., the Anheuser packaging unit.

A number of companies that formerly rented plants in Ventura and elsewhere have recently purchased new locations in Oxnard, according to Paul Jacobs, an agent in the Camarillo office of DAUM Commercial Real Estate Services. "Small companies seem able to find desirable space that's affordable in Oxnard," Jacobs said. "The movement has mainly been from Ventura, although firms that used to rent in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties have also been buying in Oxnard lately."

Walking among the rows of brass creatures at his foundry, Stan Reich isn't one to pass artistic judgment. Unlike some art foundries, Image Casting Inc. is a place where artists' wills can run free. In the foundry business, tempers can flare if artist-owners try to exert too much influence over artist-customers. "We just make what the artist wants," said Reich, who runs the largest art foundry in Ventura County.

Oxnard is on the verge of getting its first major industrial construction project of the 1990s. Waterway Plastics Inc., a producer of valves and other parts used in swimming pools and spas, hopes to build an 82,000-square-foot warehouse next to its plant on East Sturgis Road. The project has already been given an official green light, says Alex Herrera of the city's Planning Department. Unless someone objects during a 15-day waiting period, the structure is on the way, he adds.

Fast work by Oxnard officials helped save at least 40 Ventura County jobs at Casual Living Worldwide Inc., a patio furniture manufacturer that was being heavily wooed by Arizona redevelopment officials. Casual Living, a privately held firm with $10 million in annual sales, has outgrown the three small buildings it occupies in Oxnard's Channel Islands Business Center, company President Dale Boles said. "We've been growing despite a general downturn in our industry," Boles said.

A Chatsworth-based manufacturer officially broke ground this week on a $20-million Oxnard headquarters, which is expected to attract more than 500 jobs and boost the local economy. Construction on Haas Automation Inc.'s 415,000-square-foot building at Rice Avenue and Sturgis Road actually started last week. The company expects to begin relocating all of its operations to the facility, set on 76 acres, in December.

A Chatsworth-based manufacturer officially broke ground this week on a $20-million Oxnard headquarters, which is expected to attract more than 500 jobs and boost the local economy. Construction on Haas Automation Inc.'s 415,000-square-foot building at Rice Avenue and Sturgis Road actually started last week. The company expects to begin relocating all of its operations to the facility, set on 76 acres, in December.

For a good long stretch, Alfonso Suarez lived a farm worker's dream. Nearly two decades ago, the 44-year-old Mexican immigrant stepped out of the fields and into a job at an Oxnard cannery that has supplied steady work and generous paychecks to generations of local residents. Back then, he remembers thinking that he had punched his ticket to lifetime employment.

Walking among the rows of brass creatures at his foundry, Stan Reich isn't one to pass artistic judgment. Unlike some art foundries, Image Casting Inc. is a place where artists' wills can run free. In the foundry business, tempers can flare if artist-owners try to exert too much influence over artist-customers. "We just make what the artist wants," said Reich, who runs the largest art foundry in Ventura County.

Oxnard is on the verge of getting its first major industrial construction project of the 1990s. Waterway Plastics Inc., a producer of valves and other parts used in swimming pools and spas, hopes to build an 82,000-square-foot warehouse next to its plant on East Sturgis Road. The project has already been given an official green light, says Alex Herrera of the city's Planning Department. Unless someone objects during a 15-day waiting period, the structure is on the way, he adds.

Fast work by Oxnard officials helped save at least 40 Ventura County jobs at Casual Living Worldwide Inc., a patio furniture manufacturer that was being heavily wooed by Arizona redevelopment officials. Casual Living, a privately held firm with $10 million in annual sales, has outgrown the three small buildings it occupies in Oxnard's Channel Islands Business Center, company President Dale Boles said. "We've been growing despite a general downturn in our industry," Boles said.

Oxnard has failed to make a short list of locations being considered for a can-manufacturing plant by a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch Cos. "I'm afraid the city isn't close enough to our brewery in Van Nuys," says Mark Armstrong, a spokesman for Metal Container Corp., the Anheuser packaging unit.

City officials welcomed Halaco Engineering to a beach on the community's southern tip 35 years ago. In a city then thirsting for growth, the metal recycler seemed a good fit: The site was a former dump, it was far from where people lived and from potable ground water, and the company would bring dozens of new jobs. Now, however, the factory and the huge slag heap growing next to it are viewed as the biggest environmental thorn in the city's side.

Take a little ammonium and sprinkle in some nitrates, and what you've got is a recipe for success. At least that's the hope of officials from the Oxnard Harbor District. They joined about 50 city and county representatives and friends of the Port of Hueneme on Tuesday to officially open a new liquid fertilizer terminal that will be used to support the regional and statewide agriculture industry.

A number of companies that formerly rented plants in Ventura and elsewhere have recently purchased new locations in Oxnard, according to Paul Jacobs, an agent in the Camarillo office of DAUM Commercial Real Estate Services. "Small companies seem able to find desirable space that's affordable in Oxnard," Jacobs said. "The movement has mainly been from Ventura, although firms that used to rent in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties have also been buying in Oxnard lately."

Expansion of the Oxnard plant of Procter & Gamble Paper Products Co. is 40% complete and should be finished ahead of schedule by early 1993, according to company spokesman Bob Paulger. "We've probably saved two months and about $2 million in costs because of the efficiency of city personnel who processed our permits," Paulger said. The number of employees expected to be hired as part of the expansion has been raised 10%, to 220, he said.