What’s Your Outlook?

In addition to talking to four business leaders about prospects for Valley business as a whole this year, The Times asked 10 people at companies large and small to share their outlooks for their individual businesses. Here’s what they told Maggie Barnett of our staff: *

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Zachary Schuler

President, Cal Net

Northridge-based computer network design company

In 2000 I would estimate revenues increasing 100%. From 1998 to 1999, there was probably about a 600% increase in revenue, but I don’t think we’ll do that well. We’ll definitely be hiring. We have a position open immediately. By the end of next year, we’ll need two to three full-time consultants, by which time we’d need to hire another office staff member. I like to hire young people. I’m 25. In this business, you really need to have a mind like a sponge.

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Daniel Tibbet

Vice President, Papazian-Hirsch Entertainment

Canoga Park-based company affiliated with Ray-Art Studios

My primary goal is to find material to turn into films. We’re very excited about the year 2000. We’ve built an impressive development slate and combining it with this facility we’re able to produce impressive products. We primarily do three things: television series, movies for television and theatrical movies. Our goal for the year 2000 is for our company to move into the production of theatrical motion pictures in the $3-million-to-$5-million range. We aren’t hiring at this point ... we will be expanding, probably sometime in mid-March.

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Jeannie Waterman

Owner, Wishworks

Van Nuys-based gift company

My company fits into a small category called giftables. These are home accessories, but they also can be great gifts. I think business will grow next year. People are using their homes a lot more and a lot more carefully. Their environment is a lot more important right now. They want beauty and they want comfort. I’ve just started a Web page. We hope to have the shopping cart ready by Jan. 5.

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Patricia Everett

Owner, Corporate Fine Arts

Chatsworth-based art consultant

I supply fine art to corporations, interior designers and architects. It’s my 10th year in business, so I’m reviewing everything. The real push is to see what I can do better. I’ve done 30% this past year over my best year. I don’t think that can continue. I haven’t done much marketing because I’ve been too busy and I know that’s a mistake. I’m overly dependent on some of my clients that provide me a large portion of my business. I really like working with them, but circumstances can change. People can retire. You spend so much time serving them because you want to do the best job. But then you lose time for marketing. The key is homing in on your target market. Every time I advertise, I wind up with the wrong kind of client.

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Susan Abundis

Market Executive, Bank of America Commercial Bank-ing Group Woodland Hills

I see that 2000 has a lot of potential. The San Fernando Valley is populated with many of those middle-market clients that are my target market. We have a new focus on the lower middle market. Our business is pretty healthy in the Valley. Some clients see interest rates going up. I don’t have a crystal ball, but our business is very competitive and people still want to talk to us.

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Sharon Springer

Owner, Spring Gard’n Designs

Burbank-based slipcover designer and manufacturer

We manufacture slipcovers, table covers and pillows. We’ve just come out with a sofa slipcover. We’re hoping that it will be picked up by some retailers. From 1997 to 1998, we grew 400%. Last year, our sales increased about 15% and we hope to do that in 2000. There shouldn’t be any obstacle at that level, but to grow more than that I’d need financing. We need to grow to the next level, that’s one of the challenges--to expand our customer base, reduce costs and maintain quality. We probably will venture onto the Internet in 2000, but people like to see and feel our product. We have very good luck at trade shows and some of those vendors have Web sites.

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Alfred Mann

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, MiniMed

Sylmar-based biotech company

In 2000, we’re projecting substantial growth. Analyst projections are in the $300- million range. I think the latest estimates are in the $280-million range and that’s a conservative estimate. We’ve been expanding a lot. Our biggest problem is space. Our new campus [in Northridge] should be completed midyear. We are hiring a lot of people. We’re over 1,300 today and we’ll need several thousand more people over the next few years.

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Martha Diaz Aszkenazy

President, Pueblo Contracting Services Inc.

San Fernando-based construction company

I see good things in the year 2000. I see continued prosperity down the pike ... schools, more housing and more infrastructure--even libraries. We’re looking forward to what the new year brings. I don’t want to say construc-tion is booming because I don’t want to jinx it, but construction is good right now. We’re looking at hiring more staff. The biggest obstacle is knowing how much to expand. The biggest challenge is finding skilled labor and managerial personnel. A lot of people moved away during the downturn, to Las Vegas and other places. It’s very difficult to find people who can estimate a job or manage a site.

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James Fiedler

Chairman and chief executive officer, Coyote Network Systems *

Westlake Village-based telecommuni-cations company

We will probably double our software people this year. We go after the best people we can get and try to keep them. In our industry the real asset is not copper, not ions, the real asset is intellectual property. Forget gender, race, everything. Get the IQ points. I hope that we’ve spent the last 2 1/2 years positioning ourselves for [growth]. But am I on the edge of my chair? Absolutely.

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Arnold Taylor

President and Chief Executive Officer, Editing Technolo-gies Corp.

Burbank-based maker of videotape editing equipment

We do plan to expand in 2000. We are expanding our product line and personnel, probably in the fall. Our products are primarily for prime-time television. I imagine that we’ll double our growth in 2000. The FCC has mandated that television stations upgrade to digital. A lot of people in the industry are taking a wait-and-see attitude on digital versus high definition television. That has really hurt the industry. But we are resolution-independent. Our products interface to all types of equipment regardless of whether they be analog, digital or high definition. That makes us immune to television standards.