Hot Cities

No. 22: Orange County, California (1999)

BY Mark Henricks | October 1, 1999|

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Atairgin Technologies was founded in 1996 in Pullman, Washington, by Washington State University professors Michael K. Skinner and Gordon B. Mills to research a promising new cancer-detection technology. After three years, the company was ready to commercialize its technology and move into clinical development--and was also ready for a new home.

CEO Patrick Walsh chose Irvine, California, in business-friendly Orange County, due to its compelling blend of reasonable costs, excellent access to labor and a preexisting base of university medical research resources. "We also looked at San Francisco, which has a booming biotech industry, San Diego and Pasadena [in Los Angeles County]," says Walsh, 38.

Orange County beat San Francisco on costs, says Walsh. And he decided against San Diego because the company didn't want to be lumped in with the many small biotech firms there, while the Los Angeles area's health technology industry wasn't developed enough to offer the kind of skilled workers the company would need. Irvine allowed Walsh to recruit for his 12-person staff from as far south as San Diego and as far north as Marina Del Rey (in Los Angeles County).

"The weather's great, the community is growing, there's a very low crime rate in this area, and the schools are great," says Walsh. "That's tough to beat."

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