Hoping to keep local companies happy and send a message that
Morgan Hill is an ideal place to do business, city council members
plan to begin interacting more closely with private employers.
Hoping to keep local companies happy and send a message that Morgan Hill is an ideal place to do business, city council members plan to begin interacting more closely with private employers.
The council established the “business outreach” program as one of its goals for the year. Once the effort gets going later this summer, the council and city staff will set up a series of informal meetings with the executives and owners of companies whose headquarters are in Morgan Hill. The meetings will take place on the companies’ turf, where council members will have a chance to tour the private facilities, many of which consist of intricate manufacturing operations.
In the interest of networking, also invited to the meetings will be representatives of other local companies who are in the same sector, have the same interests or are potential customers of the hosts, explained Garrett Toy, manager of the city’s Business and Housing Services department.
City operations depend on the success of the private sector, which provides local jobs and revenues for public services, and fuels consumer spending. The overall purpose of the outreach program is to solidify the personal relationship between representatives of local businesses and the city – a relationship that benefits everyone involved, according to council members, city staff and the businesses themselves.
“I think it’s very important that we reach out to businesses, to make them feel welcome and introduce ourselves so they know we’re here to help them,” said Mayor Pro Tem Marilyn Librers. “It’s very important we have that rapport, because we’re all a partnership.”
And keeping that relationship going helps keep businesses here, Toy added. If a company is considering moving, or is looking for the right spot in Morgan Hill, its representatives will know who to contact and what questions to ask at City Hall. The city can also act as a go-between to connect businesses with potential customers.
An example of the kind of company the city hopes to interact with is Anritsu, whose U.S. manufacturing headquarters are located on Jarvis Drive, within a 350-acre business park developed by the company’s founder.
Anritsu makes radio frequency and microwave testing equipment, a behind-the-scenes yet essential piece of technology that telecommunications companies and cell tower contractors – and even the NFL – depend on, according to Anritsu Director of Information Systems Paul Mayer.
While many of the parts used in Anritsu products are manufactured overseas, the “cutting-edge,” microscopic components that make the products unique are produced on the 75,000-square-foot manufacturing floor in Morgan Hill, Mayer explained.
Anritsu employs about 500 people at its seven-acre Morgan Hill campus, and has been involved with the community since the company moved here in the early 1980s.
Anritsu Director of Quality Eric McLean is an alumni of the 2004 class of Leadership Morgan Hill, a program that connects representatives from local government, private companies and the nonprofit sector. McLean has remained involved with the program since he graduated, and at least one Anritsu employee has been in the class each year since then.
Furthermore, the company has contributed both volunteer hours and money to a number of local charities, including Habitat for Humanity Silicon Valley, the YMCA, Community Solutions and the Gilroy Garlic Festival, McLean said.
“Reaching out to the community is part of what a company should do,” McLean said.
The company moved from Mountain View to Morgan Hill as Wiltron, which merged with Anritsu Company of Japan in the early-1990s.
The north Morgan Hill location provides Anritsu employees who live out of town with a tolerable commute, more affordable real estate and other living costs as compared to the rest of the Bay Area, and allows Anritsu to take advantage of the “skilled and educated workforce” in south Silicon Valley, Mayer explained.
Representatives from Anritsu and companies who have moved to Morgan Hill more recently said their interactions with the city – particularly during the moving process – have been positive.
Del Monaco Foods moved its food processing operations to Madrone Parkway – from San Jose – last September. Company executives chose Morgan Hill because the warehouse they found and other aspects of the city matched all their criteria, said President and CEO Vic Del Monaco.
“Morgan Hill had a good reputation working with businesses coming in, and we got a little more attention than we had found in San Jose,” Del Monaco said. “And we heard that Morgan Hill as a whole is a city that acted like a small town but had a lot of the big-town philosophies that could benefit a business like ours.”
The appeal of close attention from city officials was echoed by other manufacturers who have moved here recently. Dave Brinton, sales manager of Pinnacle Manufacturing, said the city “has bent over backwards” in helping the sheet-metal manufacturing warehouse get settled in near Main Avenue and Butterfield Boulevard.
Anritsu and Mission Bell, a veneer furniture- and floor-panel manufacturer on Jacqueline Court, were cited by Toy as companies that the city council wants to reach out to.
Other outreach efforts already in place by the city mostly aim to bring businesses in from out of town – including advertising in business journals, and working with the Chamber of Commerce on pursuing potential leads, Toy said.
The city has not had a notable problem retaining businesses in recent years, but it’s an intent that city officials always have in the back of their minds, Mayor Steve Tate said.
“You try to attract and retain. We’re definitely interested in business retention, but I think most of the businesses we talk to are pretty happy.”
Doing business
Companies recently relocating or expanding in Morgan Hill. For the rest of the list, see page A8.
– Lin Engineering
What they do: Produce customized small step motors, such as those used to operate small satellite dishes and domed security cameras on casino floors. Headquarters on Vineyard Boulevard.
Moved to MH: June 2010, from Santa Clara.
MH employees: 100
Why they moved: “We were growing out of our facility in Santa Clara, and this building was the best (we found), in terms of quality. It was the size we needed and the price was right,” said Jeannie Robinson, sales and marketing. She added that Santa Clara officials did not pay the company as much attention as Morgan Hill officials do. The company has become involved with Community Solutions by contributing to programs that help families in need.
– Del Monaco Foods
What they do: Business-to-business food processing.
Moved to Morgan Hill: September 2009, from San Jose
MH employees: 70
Why they moved: “We surveyed different facilities from Sacramento to San Luis Obispo. In our due diligence we found Morgan Hill was a city that fit our criteria in location, and (in) the facility we found, and the reputation that Morgan Hill had,” said President and CEO Vic Del Monaco.
– Pinnacle Manufacturing
What they do: Precision sheet-metal manufacturing.
Moved to MH: May 2009, from San Jose.
MH employees: 45
Why they moved: “We got a great deal on the building we bought, and it’s an amazing facility,” said Dave Brinton, co-owner and sales manager. “An interesting thing (once we moved) our total commute hours as a company went down. We have more people living south (of the MH plant) than north.” Plus, the city has been “very flexible” in approving Pinnacle’s zoning and use of the property.
– Mission Bell
What they do: Manufacture veneer paneling for furniture and floors.
Moved to MH: About 50 years ago, but upgraded to a bigger facility July 2009.
MH employees: 85
Why they upgraded: The operation was outgrowing its former facility on Concord Circle. Company President Mark Scianna noted the city was helpful and accommodating when Mission Bell decided to move within the city limits last year. “City officials had constructive feedback and practical and reasonable recommendations for how we could satisfy all of the necessary inspections.”
