Rain Bird Rents Otay Mesa Site; Work Force of 200 Is Predicted

Rain Bird Sprinkler Mfg., the largest maker of irrigation products in the world, is moving some manufacturing operations to a plant on San Diego’s Otay Mesa that will eventually employ 200 people.

Glendora-based Rain Bird has leased a 72,000-square-foot building in the Britannia Commerce Center, which it will occupy before the end of this year. The decision culminates a three-month search of San Diego County locations, including several in North County, said Dan Pegg, president of Economic Development Corp.

Foreign Aspect Intriguing

EDC, which assisted Rain Bird in its hunt here, said the company was attracted to Otay Mesa by its foreign trade zone, an area into which businesses are able to import certain goods from Mexico while minimizing exposure to import tariffs.

Rain Bird will use the plant to assemble components made at several U. S. and offshore factories, including two Tijuana manufacturing facilities, said EDC associate vice president Kim Buttemer. Initial employment at the San Diego plant will be 60 workers. The company would not comment on whether it plans to expand its Tijuana operations.

Rain Bird makes more than 1,000 varieties of sprinklers and agricultural watering products. The company may focus much of the San Diego plant’s production on a new consumer product called “Dancing Waters,” a sprinkler that sends water “pulsating in dancing fashion on the lawn,” spokeswoman Carole Allaway-Pelton said Monday.

Founded in 1933 by Clem La Fetra, Rain Bird is a closely held, family-owned business. President Anthony La Fetra, Clem La Fetra’s son, was unavailable for comment Monday. The company declined to disclose its annual sales, number of employees or plant space.

Major Growth Reported

According to Allaway-Pelton, Rain Bird has been growing rapidly and has expanded its Glendora warehouse capacity by 50% in recent months.

Rain Bird “revolutionized” the sprinkler industry by being the first to make a sprinkler that was self-driven and could return to a starting point, Allaway-Pelton said. The company makes not only consumer lawn products but also irrigation products for agricultural and municipal uses. The firm is also a major supplier of watering systems to cemeteries.

Joe Smith, an industrial-space broker with John Burnham & Co. who specializes in the Otay Mesa area, said the Rain Bird lease is a “pat on the back of EDC for acquiring another Class A tenant for Otay Mesa and the city of San Diego.”