GAIN FROM PAIN; FAMILY FIRM FLOURISHING AFTER SETBACKS, SACRIFICES.

Byline: Deborah Adamson Daily News Staff Writer

The day after her husband's funeral, Sherma Jensen pulled herself together and went to work.

She had a lot to do: Five months earlier, she, her late husband and two other family members walked away from stable, good-paying jobs to start a new company in Moorpark. With their future at stake, Jensen had to go back to work.

``We asked ourselves, `Can we do it?' '' she said. ``We did it.''

Today, six years later, American Board Assembly is enjoying $2.2 million in sales and an average growth rate of 33 percent a year, Jensen said. From two employees, it has grown to 100 workers at two facilities in Moorpark.

The company assembles printed circuit boards for the electronics industry. They are used in consumer electronics and other high-tech equipment.

ABA's growth reflects a trend in its industry, contract manufacturing, which is enjoying robust growth, according to the American Electronics Association in Santa Clara.

Six out of 10 original equipment manufacturers use contract manufacturers today, according to a survey by Purchasing magazine. Five years ago, 37 percent of these firms did not outsource.

These electronics manufacturers are subcontracting out work - such as the building of printed circuit boards - to companies like ABA to cut costs.

They can save 24 percent off manufacturing costs, the survey said.

``There are a lot of manufacturers that are just overloaded,'' said John Hatch, spokesman for the American Electronics Association. ``We're in a boom, in terms of the total electronics industry.''

But this rosy picture was not what friends painted for Jensen when she and her late husband, Dick, thought about starting their business in 1991.

``Everybody was saying, `This is the worst time to start a business,' '' she said. ``Business is down.''

But the couple, their daughter Shawna and her then-fiance Gene, did it anyway. They rented space in a 1,500-square-foot facility for manufacturing. In the meantime, to save money, the four principals and their three dogs lived together in a four-bedroom, two-bath house in West Hills.

They worked seven days a week, bringing home circuit boards and washing them in the dishwasher.

``I went through two dishwashers,'' Jensen recalled.

They each gave up something substantial for the company.

Jensen's daughter sold her red Ford Mustang convertible to preserve cash. She also walked away from a customer relations job at a local car dealer. Her fiance, who's now her husband, gave up a computer programmer job at AT&T. Both Jensen and her husband relinquished executive-ranking sales positions in the electronics industry.

And five months into the business, Jensen's husband died of a heart attack.

Even with such a setback, the three didn't give up.

``Emotionally, I did really well,'' said Jensen, who credits a ``last letter'' she wrote to her husband and then burned as the therapy that helped her deal with his death.

The family's work paid off: The company made a profit in the first year, Jensen said, and continues to be profitable.

Even though the products of competitors who manufacture overseas are cheaper, Jensen said her prices are still competitive because ABA's expenses are low.

For instance, ABA does not have middle managers, who typically earn between $35,000 to $60,000 a year in her industry, Jensen said. Her factory workers are paid between minimum wage and $15 an hour, or up to $31,200.

In addition, she does not incur many of the costs of her overseas rivals: customs fees, brokers expenses and shipping costs.

Since ABA is in the United States, the company also offers a much quicker delivery of products - one week vs. three weeks for overseas shipments.

Jensen said her sense of patriotism relishes the fact that she's a manufacturer in a country built on the back of the Industrial Revolution.

``We're real flag-wavers here,'' Jensen said.

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1 -- color) Sherma Jensen, who started Moorpark's American Board Assembly, holds a printed circuit board.

(2) ABA employees assemble circuit boards that are used in consumer electronics.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News