According to “The Sun” Newspaper

Link: http://www.sbsun.com/search/ci_14472942?IADID=Search-www.sbsun.com-www.sbsun.com

High-rated Desert

2 cities rank favorably for tech sites

Matt Wrye, Staff Writer

Posted: 02/25/2010 09:25:10 PM PST

Apple Valley and Barstow are two of the most cost-effective cities in the nation when it comes to the possibility of high-tech manufacturing operations, according to a report by The Boyd Co. Inc.

The Princeton, N.J.-based location consulting firm says the two High Desert cities, along with 43 other cities under 50,000 in population, are on the radar screen of expanding companies that use computer-oriented production and advanced manufacturing operations.

"This is really the only part of California that has a compelling story to tell," said John Boyd Jr., principal of the firm. "It has a favorable cost structure."

The report focused on the operation of a hypothetical 250,000-square-foot high-tech manufacturing operation employing 300 people.

He wouldn't divulge which Inland Empire-based corporations or outside companies are considering expanding in the region or relocating, but said that aerospace, biotech and health-care industries will show a growing interest in low-cost communities as the economy recovers from the recession.

Phoenix and Las Vegas have been offering huge tax incentives to California companies to relocate over the past decade - a successful tactic.

But labor costs and other factors in those metro areas have lowered their attractiveness the past few years when compared to small towns, Boyd said.

"The compelling advantages aren't there today the way they were five years ago," he said.

Boyd said the biggest challenge to every California city on the report is AB 32 and SB 375.

The state's most controversial environmental laws, which are steadily being phased in, will curb carbon emissions through cap rules and land-use planning management.

However, industrial real estate values are so low in the Inland Empire, several companies can't ignore it.

"(Our location research) actually favors areas with high unemployment," said Boyd, referring to the Inland Empire's 14 percent unemployment rate. "These would be good jobs."

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