Tech Coast

Tech Coast is a nickname given to the Southern California region extending from Santa Barbara in the north to northern San Diego County in the south. Counties include Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego.
Origin of the term
The Tech Coast concept and name, created by Timothy Cooley in the mid-90s to define the region's industrial and economic drivers, has been adopted to describe the region as it matured from an economy dominated by aerospace and defense to that of a diversified, global, multi technology based industry.

Universities
The Tech Coast region encompasses some of the greatest concentration of research and development activity in the world emanating from major universities such as:
*UCLA
*USC
*Caltech
*Harvey Mudd College
*UC Irvine
*UC Santa Barbara
*UC San Diego

Major research institutes
*The Aerospace Corporation
*Alfred Mann Institute
*Beckman Research Institute
*Information Sciences Institute (ISI)
*Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
*The National Fuel Cell Research Center
*Nichols Institute
*RAND
*Salk Institute
*Scripps Institution of Oceanography
*The Scripps Research Institute

Economy
Notable companies
Some companies located in the Tech Coast include:
*Aerovironment
*Amgen
*Baxter
*Broadcom
*Buy.com
*CinemaNow
*Citrix Online/GoToMyPC
*Commission Junction
*Conexant
*Emulex
*
*FrontBridge
*Gateway, Inc.
*Gemstar-TV Guide
*Green Hills Software
*Helio
*Idealab
*Ingram Micro
*Internet Brands
*Iomega
*Ixia
*JAMDAT Mobile
*Jazz Semiconductor
*LegalZoom
*Linspire
*LowerMyBills.com
*Medtronic Diabetes
*Move.com
*MySpace
*Proflowers.com
*QLogic
*Qualcomm
*Rent.com
*Reunion.com
*Spot Runner
*Skyworks Solutions
*Sonos
*Upcoming.org
*ValueClick
*Veoh
*Viewsonic
*WebSideStory

Shipping and commerce
The Tech Coast also includes the largest port complex in the U.S., the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and one of the largest airports in the world, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

Tech Coast Notability
*The Tech Coast was responsible for 6,000 patents, just behind Silicon Valley's 8000
*The Tech Coast attracts the second largest pool of VC funding in the U.S. (after the Bay area).
*There are at least 19,000 technology related firms located in the Tech Coast which employ 50% more people than the Bay Area.

Criticism
While the name "Tech Coast" was coined in the 90's it has yet to receive a high level of traction. Unlike the recognized term "Silicon Valley", Tech Coast as a brand has yet to take off. Some have considered the lack of traction attributed to the lack of cohesiveness found within southern California's technology industry (which contrasts the tight knit tech community found in the Valley).

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