Ron Lee does not clown around when stating his reasons for moving his manufacturing company to Simi Valley from Nevada. The 60-year-old artist who boasts of making and selling millions of collectible sculptures, including the only licensed product of circus clown Emmett Kelly, Jr., cares not about the stifling business climate that has driven away other businesspeople because there is nothing more important to him than being home. Despite finding business success in Henderson, just outside of Las Vegas, Lee said his social life was less successful. “Money and personal success are not everything in life,” Lee said by telephone from the Nevada shop he closed on Dec. 14. In late January, Lee and his wife Jill will start a new chapter in their business life, albeit in a familiar place. Lee operated his workshop in Simi for about five years before the move to Henderson in 1994. In Nevada, Lee built a 30,000-square foot complex for manufacturing the hand-painted sculptures. The World of Clowns facility also had a restaurant and carousel. His product included collectibles based on Warner Bros. animation characters and exclusives for candy-maker Mars. He was named as a Henderson businessman of the year. The city treated him wonderfully, Lee said, yet there wasn’t anything officials could have done to make him stay. The lure of home, of California and spending time with his children and granddaughter was too strong. “I am one little grain of sand here,” Lee said. “They don’t need to bend over backward for me.” Bob Cooper understands where Ron Lee is coming from. The economic development manager for Henderson, Cooper is a transplant himself with family still living in California. Over 35 years and working in the economic development arena in four states including Nevada, Cooper said that between 1 and 2 percent of businesses re-locating to a new state move back to their home state. In nine years in Henderson, Lee’s leaving to return to the Golden State is only the second instance Cooper recalls of a company moving out. Cooper, a city council member and a representative from the chamber of commerce regularly make retention calls visits to area businesses to find out what problems they face and how the city can help. But when it comes to a business owner making decisions for non-economic reasons then retention efforts by the city become more difficult. “Family is a strong bond and people deal with it in different ways,” Cooper said. “If he’s going back for personal reasons, more power to him.” What Lee leaves behind is a state with no corporate or personal income tax, and a variety of tax abatements for businesses; a population of more than 260,000; and a commercial base with 12 industrial or office parks that are home to Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc., Ethel M. Chocolates, and Levi Strauss & Co. A cheaper cost to do business didn’t matter when he moved to Henderson, which at the time Lee described as just “a speck” on the map. Leaving the Valley area was an opportunity to pursue bigger ideas, but ultimately it is a move that Lee regrets. “Your emotions run away with your dreams and you don’t weigh all the positives and the negatives,” Lee said. The large complex closed more than a year ago and Lee sold the four-acre parcel. He then leased smaller quarters in Henderson because he didn’t know how long he would stay. Leaving after the sale of his property was not an option as Lee didn’t want to walk away from his employees, some of who have worked for him for decades and followed him from California. In Simi, Lee will lease 5,000 square feet for his shop which has yet to be named. The company is usually known as Ron Lee’s World of Clowns. A new process of putting the gold and chrome finish on the sculptures eliminated the need for large machinery. Lee’s company is merging with the operations of another company doing similar type of work. Of the 15 employees in Nevada, some are making the move back to California with Lee. Lee contacted the city in the early summer about moving back, said Brian Gabler, assistant city manager and director of economic development. When properties became available, Gabler notified Lee, telling him what the rents were and arranging meetings with building owners. “It’s a tight market so finding him space proved to be a challenge,” Gabler said. The difference in business climates is something Lee looks forward to. Nevada, he said, is too cutthroat, with unreliable suppliers and dominance by the gaming industry. If an order wasn’t big enough, some vendors didn’t want to deal with you, Lee said. Simi Valley, on the other hand, is a community that cares about people and presents networking opportunities with other companies. “I have to start all over again,” Lee said. “I don’t care because I am going home.”
