Voices: O.C. Business Leaders on the Recession, 1993 Economic Prospects

David S. Samuels president and chief executive officer, State of the Art Inc., a software company

“We are a nationally distributed company. While a significant portion of our revenue happens to come from the California marketplace, we have distribution from coast to coast. The impact we’ve seen over the past two years (from the recession) has been limited because only a portion of our revenue is locally based. We’re well leveraged. . . . We have more than 5,600 authorized resellers for our products throughout the country, and they provide a very good barometer for our outlook. Based on their feedback, we really do see the economic situation in the country improving and consumer confidence rising.”

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Patricia Fyler

owner and president, Fyler Associates in Brea

“We consult to attorneys and insurance companies relative to medical malpractice or personal-injury claims. We help them review charts and cases, develop defenses. That doesn’t change a whole lot (during a recession). In actual fact, with Orange County being as litigious as can be, the recession doesn’t interfere with our business.”

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Jack Allweiss

president and chief executive officer, Future Domain Corp. in Irvine, a designer and manufacturer of personal computer components

“If you look at Orange County as a whole, there’s a large aerospace component we’re not in and not impacted by. Then of course there’s real estate, and we’re only indirectly involved with that: We renegotiated our lease, and it went down substantially. From that perspective, (the recession) helps business. . . . For Orange County and all of Southern California, the infrastructure is in place here to do a lot of things. In other words, I see the ability for industry to rebound very strongly.”

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George Peterson

president, AutoPacific Group in Santa Ana, a consultant to auto makers

“The national economy was bad. But that didn’t affect our kind of business. When people are having a tough time selling their products, they come to us asking if there is a better way for them to do it. . . . California has largely been immune from the downturns previous to this one. But the impact on the defense industry has been so dramatic that indeed lots of folks are out of work. Until the Southern California economy gets restructured to absorb the people let go by the defense industry, we will be behind the nation. This could take a year or so to happen.”

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Eddie Gage Jr.

owner and manager, Topline Investigations in Fullerton, a private investigations firm

“Last year was rather rough for most people. . . . We have been hearing lately on the news that the recession is over and the recovery has started. I just don’t buy it. I think it’s going to get worse before it gets better--particularly in Orange County. . . . I think small-business owners such as myself are really going to be hit hard in 1993 because banks won’t lend to small businesses without that SBA guarantee, and the SBA has loaned all the money it can. I think we’re going to see SBA go broke in 1993. So I don’t see how things are going to get better for small businesses because they aren’t going to be able to get the capital to do anything.

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Ron Luther

chairman and president of Luther Medical Products Inc., Tustin “Our future is very good, but Orange County’s future is bleak as near as I can tell. Nobody in his right mind is going to move into Orange County with any manufacturing company. California’s workers’ comp is awful and getting worse and they’re not going to do much about it. And you have the double jeopardy of the California FDA. . . . Both (state and federal agencies) regulate my medical-device company and it takes a lot of time for a small business to undergo an FDA inspection, which could cost us $50,000 to $100,000.”

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Merry Neitlich

JM Associates in Irvine, a recruiter and consultant to law firms

“In the past three months, we’ve gotten more (requests for job) searches and I’ve gotten more opportunities for consulting. Everybody I’m talking to says they’re getting more business. Locally I see things picking up slowly. The indicators I have are more consulting work and more searches. I see things picking up, but we will be in a gradual upswing.”

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Carlos Mendizabal

president of Cordax Inc. in Irvine, a supplier of computerized engineering maps and databases

“I’m hoping that we already hit the bottom of the pendulum locally. The strong have survived and the weak have fallen out, so there is probably a more competitive atmosphere. And competition is good in terms of business. . . . Four years ago, how many new buildings were going up? Now it has slowed down. There’s only so much an economy can take of the massive growth before things go down.”

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Safi Qureshey

chief executive officer and president of AST Research Inc. “What you are seeing taking place is a consolidation in the industry. It’s going to be very painful. You will see continued pressure on pricing and profits, but the full-time players will make it. You can’t be part-time, and say, ‘I’ll make TVs and appliances as well.’ Companies like AST and Dell, that’s all we do. We have the focus, the resources and the determination.”

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Denise Lilley

president and chief executive of the Voucher Corp., a Cypress-based administrator of employee-benefit programs for major companies “I’m still pretty optimistic about the next year in Orange County. There should be steady growth here. PacifiCare is an outstanding client of ours and they are breaking ground (Monday), on a new child-care center. We also have Tokos Medical, the Irvine Co. and the Koll Co. So the business is here.”