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Santa Clarita Valley Telecommuting Center (US GSA)

This center is administered by the United States General Services Administration (GSA); it was opened in February 1994, in response to the Northridge earthquake in the preceding month. The facility covers approximately 5,000 square feet and contains 32 workstations. Some of the workstations are in a central, open workplace, and the balance are in offices (two or three workstations per office) arranged around the perimeter. The telecenter makes available 486 PC's equipped with fax/modems, DOS, Windows, and Microsoft Office, as well as two HP Laserjet printers, fax and copy machines, telephones, three conference rooms, a kitchenette with refrigerator and microwave, and offstreet parking.

Last year GSA paid to establish the telecenter and paid all expenses for its operation without charging rent to telecommuters agencies. GSA notified agencies using the facility that they would begin charging a fee on January 31, 1995, to recover rental costs incurred for leasing the site. Before this announcement, 28 telecommuters regularly used the center; but that number immediately declined to only 14 telecommuters after the announcement. The same number currently use the facility each day. The fees were, in fact, delayed until May 1, 1995, when GSA began charging expenses (currently $238 per month per station) back to the telecommuters' agencies. Rent is calculated by dividing the number of workstations, 32, into the amount of rent GSA pays for the telecenters space each month.

The center is currently available only to federal agencies, however, GSA is exploring the possibility of extending its use to local and state agencies.

The December 1994 report indicated that GSA was considering establishing telecenters in 30 metropolitan areas across the country, including five in California: Fresno, the Greater Los Angeles Area, Sacramento, San Diego, and the San Francisco Bay Area. While this plan has not been abandoned, the agency is re-examining the various forms of alternative work, such as home-based telecommuting. Each area will be examined individually to determine which form of alternative work would be most successful in that region.

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