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International Barricade Maker Expands Close to Home

International Barricade Maker Expands Close to Home MEDIA & TECHNOLOGY By Slav Kandyba Homeland security equals more business and expansion. At least, that can be applied as an equation at Delta Scientific. The Valencia-based manufacturer of barricades that protect the U.S. Justice Department and some 160 U.S. embassies and consulates has opened a new, 125,000-square-foot facility in Palmdale. Delta Scientific manufactures 30 barricade models, from its most popular DSC501 security gate to its bollards, the brown stubby metal objects that can be seen outside the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. All of the models have one characteristic in common: they can stop a truck weighing some 15,000 pounds. The new facility will double the manufacturing capacity of Delta Scientific, which has had its hands full with projects given the current state of world affairs and fear of terrorism. “We’ve seen a 300 percent or three-fold increase (in) demand for our products (since the Sept. 11 attacks),” said David Dickinson, Delta Scientific senior vice president. Driving the growth is the need for better security in U.S. and at its allies across the world, and Delta Scientific’s ability to deliver a range of products at a moment’s notice. “When it comes to addressing the vehicle assault aspect of that they only have one company to turn to, and that’s Delta Scientific,” Dickinson said. The company initially transferred 35 employees to the Palmdale facility in April, but it already has grown the workforce there to 90 employees, Dickinson said. There are plans to hire more. The company now has a total of 325 employees worldwide, including offices in Virginia and England, in addition to the headquarters in Valencia. At a time when many companies are choosing to flee California citing high workers comp costs and other conditions unfriendly to business, Delta Scientific’s expansion in Southern California is as surprising as it is positive for the area. The company selected the City of Palmdale over a number of other destinations, including outside of the state, after a careful search that took about five years. “They wanted us and we wanted them,” Dickinson said, adding that proximity to Valencia and cheaper land were key factors for the decision to stay. And while many manufacturers have left for states such as Texas, Delta Scientific is staying in California because it believes the business climate will improve and values its infrastructure, Dickinson said. “We are hopeful for the future of California,” Dickinson said. “We see a turnaround happening here, so we’re willing to stick around.” With its facility on-line, Delta Scientific is going to be able to crank out counter-terrorist barriers for the U.S. Air Force ordered in May. The order was worth $25 million and is believed to be the largest contract for barricades ever. The barricades will secure more than 100 Air Force bases domestically and overseas, Dickinson said. ISP-Phone Company Partnership Agoura Hills-based ISWest, an Internet service provider serving Ventura County, has entered into a partnership with Simi Valley-based ITS-Omnicom to expand its market reach. ITS-Omnicom, which provides phone services to businesses, has the same type of clientele as ISWest in Ventura County and the Central Coast, factors that were attractive to ISWest. “The significance for us is it allows us to market in areas where they have customers,” said Drew Kaplan, ISWest’s vice president. Kaplan said for now ITS-Omnicom will offer high-speed Internet access to its clients, but ISWest will refrain from offering ITS’ phone services to its clients. “We may offer voice down the line,” Kaplan said. The overall strategy for the partnership is to add value to both companies to get a hand up on competition from larger companies such as SBC and Verizon, which have begun offering bundled services, combining both Internet and voice in one package for businesses. “The more services you can offer the more value you add,” Kaplan said. “The more the chance your customer won’t leave you.” Image and Dark Horse Image Entertainment, a Chatsworth-based licensee, producer and distributor of DVDs, has taken signed on with Beverly Hills-based Dark Horse Entertainment. Dark Horse and Image will share ownership of projects released through the newly formed Dark Horse Home Entertainment venture. Dark Horse owns the rights to and publishes comics from which films “Hellboy,” “The Mask” and “Timecop” were spawned. Previously, Image had only been involved in distribution. “This is the first time, it was something that we evolved into,” said Martin W. Greenwald, president and CEO of Image. “This is a natural evolution of a successful distribution company.” NetZero Debuts at RadioShack Westlake-Village based United Online is coming to your nearest RadioShack store. United Online’s multi-year partnership is the second one with a major electronics retailer, said Jon Fetveit, chief strategy officer at United Online. The company already has an agreement in place with Best Buy. “We’re definitely in the mode of expanding distribution channels,” Fetveit said. NuTech Goes International NuTech Digital, a Van Nuys-based DVD distributor that also manages Internet distribution of entertainment content, has recruited a distributor for Europe and the Pacific Rim. Queenstone Financial will manage license agreements in those regions. NuTech Digital had previously distributed and marketed only in the U.S. Staff Reporter Slav Kandyba can be reached at (818) 316-3126

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