Motorola insists no decisions made on handset unit move

Motorola officials said Tuesday they continue to envision a "substantial presence" in the Chicago suburbs, but wouldn't rule out the possibility of moving their mobile phone operations to California.

The comments followed a Wall Street Journal report Tuesday in which Motorola Co-CEO Sanjay Jha said he was "considering" a move of handset operations to California. The report offered no details on what kind of move might be considered or how many employees might be involved, and Motorola was not providing any more detail on Tuesday.

Jha came to Motorola from San Diego and still resides there, and Motorola has operations in Sunnyvale, Calif. San Diego officials said Tuesday they have not spoken with Motorola, but the company has wireless operations there and some vacant space. Officials in Sunnyvale declined to discuss issues involving a possible Motorola move.

Announcing a long-planned split into two separate companies last week, Motorola executives told the Daily Herald they planned to keep the company's headquarters in Schaumburg and Libertyville as major hubs. A Motorola spokeswoman stressed Tuesday that the company will go where it needs to to find and attract top technology talent, but that doesn't imply moving operations.

"Motorola is a global company, and we are always looking for the best locations to hire key talent with the skill sets we need," said spokeswoman Jennifer Erickson. "Even following completion of the separation, Motorola will continue to have a substantial presence in the greater Chicago area."

Libertyville Mayor Terry Weppler said he contacted the company and was told it had not announced plans to leave the 83-acre Lake County campus, where much of the mobile-phone business is headquartered. Weppler said he hopes Motorola would first come to the village if it seriously considers moving.

"I told them that if there is something we can do to convince them to stay, we would do it," he said.

And Village Administrator Kevin Bowens, agreed that officials there are "concerned," adding, "We'd certainly like to see them stay."

Russ Gibbon, business development manager for the city of San Diego, said there are two vacant lots adjoining Motorola's wireless operations there.

"It's a reasonable possibility (the company could move to that space). But I know nothing officially," he said.

Officials in Sunnyvale, where Motorola employed 82 people late in 2008, would not comment on whether the city has been negotiating with the company.

"All questions must be directed to Motorola," said Economic Development Manager Connie Verceles.

If the issue is about qualified employees, Weppler said Libertyville can compete.

"The quality and quantity of workers would be no better in California," he said. "I think Libertyville and Lake County can offer everything California can, except maybe the number of days of sunshine."

But analysts note that moving to California could have some distinct benefits for Motorola.

"Sanjay knows what he's doing, and moving the business to California has its advantages, because there's a ready pool of engineers there," said Mark McKechnie, analyst with Broadpoint AmTech Inc. in San Francisco.

He also said that would move Motorola's handset business closer to Mountain View, Calif.,-based Google, which provides the Android platform for the new line of touch-screen smart phones for Motorola.

"And it's closer to Asia," McKechnie said, noting how much technology companies depend on China and other Asian countries for work.

Libertyville officials said the headquarters on the village's Northwest side has had its "ups and downs." At its prime, about 5,000 Motorola employees worked there. Bowens said that number was down to 2,000 at one point and is now about 3,000. Motorola will not discuss specific employment numbers.

Motorola's departure "would have a tremendous impact on Lake County," Weppler said.

Tax records indicate that the company paid Lake County $895,424 in taxes in 2008.

The assessed valuation in 2009 was about $1.9 million for the land and about $14 million for the building for a total equalized value of about $15.8 million, records show.

The company has said Jha will head up mobile devices and the home business, which makes cable television set-top boxes, when Motorola separates into two companies next year.

Jha was not available to talk Tuesday.

On Feb. 12, he told the Daily Herald that both Schaumburg and Libertyville would remain hubs for the new businesses, once the split took place early next year.

The consumer-oriented Mobile Devices and Home businesses would become one company and continue to be housed at Libertyville and Horsham, Penn., he said. The government- and business-oriented Enterprise Mobility Solutions and the Networks businesses would form the other company and use Schaumburg as its headquarters, under current Motorola Co-CEO Greg Brown.

Two weeks earlier, Jha also had told the Daily Herald that Libertyville would remain an integral part of the new Mobile Devices business once it spins off. "It will remain, undoubtedly," Jha said.

The longtime Libertyville headquarters for the Mobile Devices business offers a vital set of skills, although plans "to expand in other parts of the world to obtain other skills will be needed, too," Jha said.

The splitting company already has seen one of its current bosses, Dan Moloney, leave for another job. Moloney, former president of Motorola's set-top-box unit resigned Monday to head a Pennsylvania-based maker of electronic components.

Daily Herald staff writers Anna Marie Kukec and Mick Zawislak contributed to this report.

<img src="/graphics/motorola.campuses.jpg">