MIKE MASON

Orange County Business Journal

Quick. You want to start a high-tech firm. Where do you go to be where the action is?

Silicon Valley? Austin? Boston?

Try Los Angeles County. According to a study by WEFA, an Eddystone, Pa.-based econometric forecasting firm, Los Angeles-Long Beach has more high-tech employees than any other region in the country, with 297,000.

Of course, the study did include motion-picture jobs and services as high tech. That, coupled with the remaining defense-industry jobs that are counted as high tech, gave the Los Angeles area an edge over such tech meccas as the Silicon Valley and Orange County.

L.A.’s enormous population, combined with its large film industry, might make it the largest tech employer in the country, but when it comes to tech concentration the percentage of total jobs considered technology-related it ranks only No. 15.

The study (based on 1996 statistics) had San Jose first in concentration at 27.58 percent, although San Jose was only No. 4 in total high-tech jobs (236,700).

L.A.’s prominence wasn’t the only surprise on WEFA’s list. Two relatively unsung cities, Lowell and Fitchburg, Mass., finished No. 2 and No. 3 in concentration, and No. 6 and 7 in total tech employment, respectively. That’s a product of Massachusetts’ high-growth economy, wealth of banking capital and strong educational base. Taken together, Boston, Lowell and Fitchburg supply more than 530,000 tech jobs.