T.O. Gets New H.Q.

Ralph Phillips had just been named as president of Smiths Interconnect when he made his first important decision moving the company headquarters to Thousand Oaks. The relocation puts the office handling administrative functions closer to the design and manufacturing facilities Smiths Interconnect has on the West Coast and in Asia. A hallmark of the Interconnect division of British-owned Smiths Group is to be close to the customers and markets needing its electronic and radio frequency products. The new headquarters will be in leased office space across the street from TECOM Industries Inc., one of the 17 companies making up the Interconnect division. TECOM designs and builds antenna systems for the defense, commercial wireless, and satellite communications markets. While Interconnect has facilities all over the U.S., there are none in Chicago where the headquarters had been located or even in Midwestern states. Acquisitions to grow the division have been done overseas, with new facilities recently added in Australia and China while a third remains pending. “The center of the Interconnect universe is better on the West Coast than in Chicago or on the East Coast,” Phillips said. The move relocates two employees to Southern California and new hires will bring the headquarter staff to a dozen people. Phillips had been acting president of Smiths Interconnect since May and in August was appointed to the position permanently. He previously had been president of TECOM, which had been acquired by Smiths Interconnect in 2004. He has been replaced in that position by Arsen Melconian, vice president of engineering and chief technology officer. When Bruce Stenslie, president and CEO of the Economic Development Collaborative Ventura County, hears of a company relocating its headquarters to the region two things come to mind: that the 101 Corridor continues to represent a viable business environment for technology and associated business; and that it reinforces that the quality of life and quality of business is attractive to business leaders. “There is a talent pool that tends to be overlooked,” Stenslie said. “We are competitive with skilled workers,” City of Thousand Oaks Economic Development Director Gary Wartik has watched TECOM grow from a company of 40 employees to 150 employees. That Smiths moved its headquarters across the street is a reflection of confidence in the high tech sector, he added. “I imagine continued growth can be anticipated,” Wartik said. For the fiscal year ending in July, Smiths Interconnect had sales of $522 million. Almost half of that came from military and aerospace contracts with medical and wireless uses the next big sales categories. Interconnect does not supply commodity industries and so finds itself safe from the ongoing turmoil of the Big 3 automakers. Less certain is what will happen with defense spending when the Obama administration takes office in January. Some analysts predict the down economy will bring cuts in military programs that have been lucrative for Smiths Interconnect companies and other firms throughout Southern California. Interconnect keeps its manufacturing for government projects in the U.S. with the commercial work going overseas, including China, Tunisia and Costa Rica. TECOM, for instance, designs and manufactures antennas, including one mobile system used with pilotless aircraft in combat zones. The Smiths antenna works on three different frequencies used by the aircraft eliminating the need for multiple antennas. “(The mobile antenna) may end up on an airliner, a military vehicle or on the ground on a tripod,” Phillips said. Working in Smith’s favor is working at the component and sub-system level. The technology used in the military antennas is similar to that used for commercial application and engineers can easily switch between the two. That flexibility is a strength of the com-pany. “We can direct the resources to where the market is strongest,” Phillips said. Other strong and growing markets served by the Interconnect division include developing antennas for broadband connections aboard airplanes; components to increase bandwidth for portable consumer devices; and for network optimization for cell towers.