The El Monte factory stopped operating just a few weeks ago, but already it feels abandoned, an appropriate setting for a “Terminator” movie.

Two months ago, more than 300 people were employed at the site making engine parts for trucks and heavy machinery for Gregg Industries, which is owned by Neenah Enterprises Inc. in Wisconsin.

Gregg is part of the parade of companies marching out of California. The state lost 79,000 manufacturing jobs between 2003 and 2007, while seven other states with a meaningful percentage of U.S. manufacturing gained 62,000, according to a report released Tuesday by the Milken Institute. The report blames the state’s onerous regulations and high taxes in particular for pushing businesses elsewhere.

But not everybody agrees with the report’s conclusion.

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