Fluor Corp. Chief Executive Alan Boeckmann spent much of a conference call Tuesday saying the company’s pending move to Texas has more to do with customers and less to do with Orange County’s shortcomings.
Boeckmann answered several questions about why Fluor, which started in Santa Ana in 1912, is leaving OC. The company is the county’s third largest public company by yearly sales and employs more than 1,300 people here.
Fluor isn’t moving because of California’s onerous business climate, OC’s high housing prices or even the lack of an international airport here with the failure to convert El Toro.
The Dallas area “is closer to 80% of our North American revenue base,” Boeckmann said.
Fluor oversees engineering and construction projects for manufacturers, oil and chemical refineries, drug plants and power facilities. The company also builds roads and is doing rebuilding work in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Much of Fluor’s U.S. business is clustered in Texas and along the East Coast, Boeckmann said.
“The key issue here is the focus on our customer base,” he said.
Being in Dallas, home to a major international airport, will cut down travel time for Fluor executives, Boeckmann said.
Travel for meetings that used to take days could be done in one day from Dallas, he said.
The failure to convert the closed El Toro Marine base into an airport wasn’t a factor in the move, according to Boeckmann.
Even so, “a corporation has to be near a good international airport,” he said.
Boeckmann downplayed what the move means for OC and stressed the company plans to keep a sizable operation here.
Still, the move of Fluor’s corporate headquarters is a real and symbolic loss for the county. The company is among the most well-known here. Its history here goes back decades.
Fluor is one of six Fortune 500 companies based here, along with Ingram Micro Inc., PacifiCare Health Systems Inc., First American Corp. and Gateway Inc.
Fortune also includes Pacific Life Insurance Co. of Newport Beach on its list because the life insurer, owned by policy holders, reports financials.
Fluor didn’t engage in “a contest” for its headquarters, according to Boeckmann. He didn’t specifically say Fluor is getting tax breaks or other benefits from Texas but said any incentives weren’t “a major driver.”
The company hasn’t picked a site in the Dallas area yet, Boeckmann said. The company is looking for about 100,000 square feet of space, about what it has in Aliso Viejo, Boeckmann said.
Fluor expects to shift its headquarters early next year.
The company is leaving its engineering operations in Aliso Viejo and at a smaller site in Long Beach. Both employ about 900 people, with about 800 in Aliso Viejo.
Fluor likely is concerned with keeping engineers, who may be reluctant to up and leave OC for Texas.
The engineering operation here also includes people who work in finance, project controls and other related areas.
About 490 headquarters personal are impacted by the move, including those in human resources, legal and technology. Some 210 of those people are set to be reassigned locally, Boeckmann said. Eighty are moving to other Fluor spots.
About 100 jobs are set to move to Dallas, where Fluor plans to hire about 70 people, Boeckmann said. Some 100 likely will lose their jobs.
Fluor said it plans to keep its philanthropic foundation in Aliso Viejo.
“We’re pleased that the heart of our west coast operation will remain in the state,” Boeckmann said.
