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OC’s largest foreign-owned firms added jobs at a brisk clip in 2000

Orange County’s largest foreign-owned companies added 1,320 new jobs last year for a 7% job-growth rate, more than double the countywide clip, according to this week’s Business Journal list.

In all, the top 30 foreign-owned companies accounted for 21,450 local jobs. The list includes U.S. headquarters, divisions and other operations of companies based in other countries.

Electronics companies and automakers dominate the list, which is ranked by employment. Also included are aerospace, industrial component and finance companies.

Japanese companies make up half of the list with 15 companies, including six of the top 10. British companies are next at six, followed by French firms at four, two German companies and one each from Canada, South Korea and Sweden.

Compared with the 30 largest foreign-owned companies on last year’s list, this year’s group showed a 4% drop in jobs due to the falling off of Verizon Wireless, formerly AirTouch Communications Inc. The wireless phone company still has a big OC presence, but it’s no longer foreign-owned. Last year, former majority owner Vodafone AirTouch PLC of Britain combined its wireless business with Bell Atlantic Corp., which now owns 55% of Verizon Wireless.

Taking Verizon out of the mix, the largest foreign-owned companies this year posted a 4% increase in jobs.

Topping the list again is Tokyo-based Toshiba Corp., which counts 2,791 OC employees at its four divisions and corporate operations here. The company reported no change in local employment in the past year.

At No. 2 is Tokyo-based Mitsubishi, whose entry includes the combined local operations of Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and Mitsubishi Motor Corp. In all, Mitsubishi was down 2% to 1,481 local workers.

Rounding out the top five: No. 4 Germany’s B. Braun Melsungen AG, which counts 1,300 people in Irvine making medical devices, down 8% from a year ago after shifting some administrative operations to its U.S. headquarters in Bethlehem, Pa.; and No. 5 Experian Inc., a unit of Britain’s Great Universal Stores PLC, which employs 1,200 people in Orange, down 1% from a year ago.

Toronto-based Celestica Inc. debuted on this year’s list at No.13 with the biggest job gain: 451 new positions for a total of 634 workers at its OC facility, a 246% increase. The contract electronics manufacturer last year took another 125,000 square feet of space in Foothill Ranch, hiring people “across the board,” according to general manager Ben Swenson.

In OC, Celestica makes computers and other electronics for Sun Microsystems Inc. and Britain’s International Computers Ltd., a provider of grocery store automated checkout systems and restaurant point-of-sale systems.

“The market we’re in continues to show significant growth,” Swenson said.

Fueled in part by California’s electricity crisis, No. 8 France’s MGE UPS Systems Inc., which makes power supply systems for computer gear in Costa Mesa, also posted a big hiring increase. The company added 167 OC employees for a total of 897, a 23% increase.

“The recent power uncertainty is causing people to think more about uninterruptible power,” said MGE spokeswoman Nancy Nelson.

MGE posted an 80% North American sales increase to $270 million last year. Internet companies and data center operators have driven much of the growth for MGE’s products, which offer electricity backup through batteries.

“A lot of large Internet companies are building football-sized buildings with racks of servers and equipment and leasing them out to dot-coms and service providers,anyone who has a Web site wants it up 24 hours a day,” she said. “This is driving electricity demand through the roof.”

Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp., owned by Compagnie de Saint-Gobain of Paris, also made a big entry to this year’s list at No.14 with 600 OC employees. The company, which makes plastic components for the semiconductor, medical, automotive and aerospace sectors, grew OC employment by 250 people,a 71% increase. The company last year opened a 182,000-square-foot plant in Garden Grove.

“I’m surprised at the level of talent here (in OC),” said human resources manager Scott Bentley, who recently relocated from Ohio. “We’ve been in a hiring frenzy.”

No. 7 Union Bank of California, owned by Tokyo-based Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd., also showed a big job jump. The bank grew its OC employee count 34%, or by 235 jobs, for a total of 935. Unlike the job creation at Celestica, MGE and Saint-Gobain, though, Union Bank’s increase came as a result of moving a call center from Monterey Park to Brea, according to spokeswoman Joann Curran. Still, Union Bank moved up three spots from No. 10 on last year’s list.

Another big gainer was Allianz AG, the German insurance and investment powerhouse. Allianz moved up 20 spots to No. 10 through the acquisition last year of Newport Beach-based Pimco Advisors Holdings LP. The acquisition gave Allianz 388 more OC employees,a 116% increase.

Ricoh Electronics Inc., a Tustin office equipment maker owned by Tokyo-based Ricoh Co., moved up one spot to No. 5, despite posting a 7% reduction in its employment roster to 1,017, a decrease of 74 against the previous year. Human resources manager Larry Vaughn attributed the decrease “mainly to normal attrition,” he said.

Tokyo-based TDK Corp. fell 10 spots from last year to No. 29 this time around. The company is closing its Irvine floppy diskette plant and posted a 25% drop to 335 OC workers as it shifts audiocassette production overseas and relocates some workers to Anaheim.

Kawasaki Motors Corp. U.S.A, an Irvine motorcycle maker owned by Japan’s Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., fell seven spots to No. 25, posting a 19% reduction in its OC workforce due to its parent’s sale of the Holiday Inn Anaheim. The company recorded 392 county employees, down from 486 the previous year.

Weber Aircraft Inc., a Fullerton aircraft products maker owned by Groupe Zodiac of France, fell nine spots to No. 26 on this year’s list, with 358 OC employees,down 28% from last year’s county headcount of 500.

Plastics producer Dynacast Inc./SPM dropped off this year’s list because the parent company, London-based Cinven Ltd., sold off the Anaheim SPM division to Westmont, Ill.-based United Plastics Group Inc. The sell-off reduced Dynacast’s OC staff from 647 to 142.

Similarly, Tokyo-based Sony Corp. fell off this year’s list after it sold off Irvine-based Sony Transcom Inc. to Milwaukee-based Rockwell International Corp. The sale caused Sony’s OC employment to plummet from 699 to 265. n

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