26 OF SOUTHLAND'S HOTTEST TECH FIRMS IN VALLEY REGION.

Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer

The San Fernando Valley and nearby communities remain at the leading edge of Southern California's economy with 26 of the region's 50 fastest- growing technology companies, a survey released Tuesday by the consulting firm Deloitte & Touche reported.

The Fast 50, a survey of Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, found that most of the booming Valley area firms are located near the Ventura Freeway corridor. The number was down from 30 last year, and economists expect much of the area's new economic growth to occur in the Santa Clarita Valley area.

``It continues to go gangbusters. That 101 Corridor is the strongest growing area of the tech community, as it has been for several years. It's dropped slightly, but it's still strong and consistent,'' said Gary Dickey, director of the study for Deloitte & Touche.

The region's continuing strength stems from its strong labor base and high-quality educational facilities.

For decades, the Valley region has ruled the tech community, first through the strength of its aerospace, then with a slew of offshoots. During the meteoric rise of Internet-based firms in the late 1990s, the area prospered. And even as that craze has flickered out, the local high-tech community continues its dominance.

``Look at the heritage,'' said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. ``At one time, Lockheed and its 'Skunk Works' were headquartered in Burbank, which attracted a lot of tech people, and Rocketdyne, Litton and, at one time, Hughes had missile-design facilities out there. ... It's close to JPL and Caltech, so the genes are very heavily skewed toward tech.''

And with all that tech wizardry floating around, as the industry climate changed, specialists learned to adapt their skills.

``Everything was already here,'' said Bonny Herman, president and chief executive officer of the Valley Industry Commerce Association. ``It was just a matter of the geniuses coming up with the ideas and how to employ them.''

But, Kyser cautioned, those genes could migrate in coming years, as burgeoning firms run out of room in the densely packed San Fernando Valley. Already, the biomed sector has begun locating to the north in the Santa Clarita Valley.

``The key challenge is to make sure there's enough space for firms to expand to make sure they don't go off to Santa Clarita and Ventura County,'' he said. ``You use land rather poorly, especially in the northeast part of the Valley. We all have to look at land in a different way.''

He suggested less investment in retail development, and more attention to manufacturing and industrial parks. Roberto Barragan, president of the Valley Economic Development Center, also voiced concerns over growing business migration to escape Los Angeles' business taxes.

``Los Angeles also needs to adjust its gross receipts tax,'' Barragan said. ``For a tech company that's growing, a gross receipts tax is not an incentive to stay here. If your taxes are going to go up, it's much better to move out somewhere else.''