Special Effect: Cooperation

Monty Lunde and Rock Hall, former Disney special-effects technicians, ran their company for a decade in an awkward string of three buildings in Burbank. When they decided to consolidate the operation in a Valencia industrial park, they met with city officials to sell them on the rewards of bringing a new employer to town. When they needed quick approvals and permits, Lunde says, they realized just how much those personal relationships helped.

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We moved to Valencia in late 1993. We had a good vision of what we wanted: a small, free-standing industrial building that we would have an option to buy.

After a long search, my partner and I found this building. But we realized we were going to have to gut the inside and remodel it extensively.

The tough part was that after we signed the lease here in Valencia, we had only a four-month window before our lease in Burbank was going to be up. We needed to bulldoze the interior of the new building and put in a sound stage, build a second story for our offices and make other major renovations.

We had a major move in the works, money was at stake and the timing was critical. We simply could not afford to get bogged down in red tape. We had a contractor hired who was committed to completing the building. But he said he could not guarantee how long the city would take to make plan checks.

So we made an appointment at City Hall and talked to the city planner. We spread around our brochures and showed the staff a promotional video.

We told them that the expansion of our company would mean we would probably hire local people. In fact, we have doubled the size of our staff since we moved here.

I also told them that I had started the professional association within our industry and that if we moved here, other industry members might be attracted to this area too.

They had specific questions for us about job creation and about what kind of work we do. They were especially happy to hear that we were [an environmentally] clean industry and they appreciated us letting them know who we are. Just being able to put faces with our company name and paperwork, when it came through, seemed to make a world of difference. We did not meet in an adversarial situation where it would become us versus them.

All through the process they were very courteous and friendly. Best of all, they took our schedule to heart. They looked at a bunch of our drawings and literally stamped them “approved” right over the counter.

The builder we used--who had worked in the area for 15 years--could not believe it.

The close contact we had with these officials has continued to pay off. A little more than a year ago, we decided to install a 20,000-gallon test pool for developing underwater explosions, fountains and water systems. Again, we found the city very cooperative in helping us when it came to special needs like access for firetrucks, Slumpstone walls that protect the pool from traffic and even re-striping our parking lot.

We have won millions of dollars’ worth of work in the last year because of that pool.

I think when you are moving to a new area, actually taking time to meet people in person makes all the difference. People are more likely to work with you instead of against you when there’s an individual relationship involved.

MORE SMALL BUSINESS: D9

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AT A GLANCE

* Company: Technifex Inc.

* Owners: Monty Lunde and Rock Hall

* Nature of business: Produces special mechanical and visual effects for live attractions like casinos, theme parks and trade shows.

* Location: Valencia

* Founded: 1984

* Employees: 51

* Annual revenue: $8 million