Survey Finds Bullish Business Outlook in O.C. : Economy: Chapman University report cites moderate growth across the entire spectrum of manufacturing in the county.

ORANGE —  Manufacturers in Orange County continued to enjoy moderate growth in the second quarter and are generally optimistic about the economy, according to results of a survey by Chapman University’s economic research center.

The quarterly measurement of local corporate purchasing managers suggests that, while growth during the second quarter slowed, Orange County remains relatively healthy.

“We are doing better than the nation as a whole, and the best news is that the performance is spread out over the whole spectrum of manufacturers and not just restricted to certain industries at the expense of others,” said Chapman economist Raymond Sfeir.

The composite index of manufacturing productivity, hiring, new orders, inventories and other factors dropped to 58.5 from 65.4 in the first quarter, meaning that growth has indeed slowed, said Sfeir, who has conducted the Orange County Purchasing Managers Survey since 1988.

In contrast, a similar survey by the National Purchasing Managers Assn. published a second-quarter index of 47.9, down from 54.6 in the first quarter.

The Orange County survey results don’t surprise businessman Gary MacDonald.

The vice president of marketing for Fountain Valley computer memory products maker Kingston Technologies Corp. noted that his company “has been puttering along at a 93% compound annual growth rate” for the past two years.

MacDonald agreed with Sfeir’s finding that electronics manufacturing, in decline for several years, is regaining some ground because of a boom in the personal computer market.

Companies like Kingston, which supply memory devices, are benefiting from the “rapid acceleration of personal computer architecture, the new operating systems” and the growing number of memory device users, MacDonald said. That trend is driven in part by electronic game makers--whose products, MacDonald said, “are really small computers.”

Purchasing managers of the 60 companies that Sfeir surveys each quarter generally reported increased production, stable or increased hiring and strong new order activity--factors that point to a healthy third-quarter performance as well.

“To me, the best number in the survey is that only 13.8% of the companies said production levels were worse than in the first quarter,” Sfeir said. “That’s the lowest since we started this [survey] in 1988.

“And that says that most of the county’s manufacturing industries are finally coming out of their recession.”