Five months ago, Gino and Patricia Affatati packed up and moved their metal fabrication business to Redmond from Pomona, Calif., just outside Los Angeles.

”The reason for coming was two-fold, one for the business and secondly for a better way of life for our girls,” said Patricia who has two daughters, ages 10 and 3.

The Affatatis own GP Metal Products Inc., which manufactures steel and aluminum truck bodies, boxes, racks and accessories for the construction and services industries and does custom designs and fabrication for specialty equipment.

Economic development officials at the state and local level are hoping to turn the trickle of businesses that relocate from California into a steady stream once Oregon kicks off an advertising blitz touting the personal and professional advantages of doing business in the sate.

Like many who have visited Oregon before moving here, the Affatatis were already familiar with the beauty of the area, but they also came to discover lower real estate prices, fewer business regulations and a slower-paced lifestyle.

”In California, in the metal business that I’m in, there are all of these restrictions and permits for things,” said Gino Affatati. ”There is nothing like that here, so that is nice.”

Affatati added that business owners in California also pay out a lot of money for real estate and other expenses.

While GP Metal Products is leasing its building, many companies moving into Redmond are eligible for exemptions on property taxes, land and building improvements through the city’s enterprise zone. Businesses in the zone are also eligible for discounts on water, sewer and building permit fees.

A major portion of the companies that Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO) is currently recruiting reside in California, said Roger Lee, the organization’s executive director.

EDCO currently has three pending recruitments in California, including a specialty machine manufacturer from San Jose, a solar-power module manufacturer from Southern California, and a company from the Bay Area that is looking at building or occupying a 40,000- to 60,000-square-foot building here.

If those three companies decide to relocate here, it could mean at least another 300 new jobs for Central Oregon, according to EDCO. ”We definitely reach out to these companies,” Lee said.

Lee said EDCO buys lists of companies in California that are looking into expanding or relocating, makes cold calls to businesses, attends trade shows and does individual site visits in the state.

The number of Californian businesses considering a move to Oregon has increased in the last few years, Lee said, because of higher workers’ compensation rates and taxation in California.

Still, Lee said the budget to market Central Oregon to California companies is still small and many businesses outside the state have a perception that Oregon has tough environmental regulations and doesn’t welcome new business.

But that will soon change when the state invests thousands of dollars to change that perception.

Oregon leaders will step up recruiting efforts in the Golden State early next year.

In February, Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s Brand Oregon Initiative will launch a media campaign aimed specifically at targeting businesses in California that are considering relocating or expanding.

The campaign’s tagline, ”Come for a week, stay forever,” is a full-page advertisement that touts the positive points of doing business in Oregon.

The advertisement highlights the fact that Oregon’s workers’ compensation rate has gone down every year for the past 12 years and is 50 percent lower than California’s.

”There’s no sales tax, inventory tax, state business or occupations tax. Energy costs are also low, up to 50 percent lower than those of our southern neighbor. In fact, Oregon is in the lowest 25 percent of overall business costs in the nation,” the advertisement reads.

Julie Curtis, deputy director of the Brand Oregon Campaign, said a $150,000 media buy will begin in February. The ads will be placed in key business journals and publications in California, and select national publications.

A two-page spread of the same advertisement has already run in the fall Travel Oregon magazine that came out in August.

Curtis said it is too early to tell what, if any, impact the advertisement in the tourism publication has had.

”It makes sense for Oregon to look at our neighbor to the south, it has the sixth- largest economy in the world,” Curtis said.

In the past, recruitment of businesses from California was limited to one-on-one contact, direct mail and trade missions, Curtis said.

”As far as I know, the state has not undertaken media advertising to sell the idea that Oregon is open for business,” Curtis said.

The advertisements urge interested businesses to call a toll-free number or e-mail the governor’s office to find out more about Oregon’s business climate.

”We follow up with a customized packet and brochure that details all of the various programs businesses can take advantage of and the cost of doing business here to start the ball rolling,” Curtis said.

She said she would like to see the amount invested in the program grow, especially to counter a recurring theme that Oregon doesn’t want new businesses.

”It’s interesting that people who go to trade shows around the country often hear that people in Oregon don’t want new business … and we do,” Curtis said.

Lee said he thinks anything the state can do to help give Oregon a stronger media presence and dissuade fears of doing business in Oregon will help create more jobs in Central Oregon.

But Oregon isn’t the only state trying to woo businesses in California.

Many states and even local governments have been focusing recruitment efforts on California businesses for decades.

Fairfax County, Virginia, near Washington D.C., has been targeting Californian companies that want to expand to the East Coast for the past 25 years.

Jerry Gordon, president of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority said the key ways his organization reaches expanding businesses are through advertisements in the Wall Street Journal, Fortune Magazine, Forbes and on National Public Radio.

In addition, Gordon said the organization has individuals travel to the state and talk with California businesses.

”We have marketing teams visit in California six to eight times a year,” Gordon said. ”They are talking to businesses that are ready to expand, who want an East Coast operation, about considering Fairfax County.”

Gordon said his organization typically targets telecommunications, aviation and aerospace companies who benefit from being near the nation’s capitol.

In an average year, Gordon said the organization announces about 130 to 135 new businesses from across the nation that are moving to the county.

Despite competition from other areas in the nation, Lee and Curtis said they believe that the proximity of Oregon to California and its favorable tax structure will be what ultimately draws in new businesses.

”I think one of the major pluses that Oregon has is its tax structure over California,” Lee said.

According to a study by the Tax Foundation, a nonprofit organization that monitors fiscal policy, Oregon ranks 10th among the states for business-friendly

tax codes.

The study looked at major features of a state’s tax system including the corporate income tax, the individual income tax, the sales or gross receipts, the unemployment insurance tax and the state’s fiscal balance.

California ranked 38th for business-friendly tax codes.

”Oregon has a high personal income tax, but the corporate tax rate is favorable to operate a business,” Lee said.

Kristy Hessman can be reached at 541-383-0350 or khessman@bendbulletin.com.