The Cupertino Courier

Cover Story

Photograph by Brian Connelly

Nimitz Elementary third graders (from left) Aviv Lahat, Fatima Naseem and Cindy Gomez, work on an Apple computer purchased with money the class won for being tops in its use of technology.

Logged On

Apple Computer, headquartered here, is interwoven thoughout Cupertino's economy, boosting businesses and schools

By Anne Ward Ernst

In Cupertino the fruit didn't fall far from the tree when Apple Computer planted its seed here in 1976.

While analysts on Wall Street debate the future of the company's stock price, many in Cupertino couldn't be happier with the homegrown Fortune 500 Company.

From a new 50-acre campus to a long list of contributions, donations and partnerships within the Cupertino educational community, the city's tax base, restaurants and retailers that surround the company benefit from being a neighbor to Apple.

"Cupertino residents are proud to be associated with Apple," said Mayor Richard Lowenthal.

Apple's association with the community is not embedded in computer code, but in the roots of company founders: Homestead High School graduates Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.

In 1976, the first Cupertino facility opened at 20863 Stevens Creek Blvd. Today the company's central campus at 1 Infinite Loop, off De Anza Boulevard, is a sprawling landmark. Satellite offices dot the Cupertino landscape.

Orchards once covered the land where Apple's corporate headquarters is now.

At the April 18 city council meeting, Jobs made clear Apple's commitment to the city when he announced a planned 50-acre second campus at Pruneridge Avenue, Tantau Road and Highway 280.

It is a collection of nine properties, including an 8.5-acre parcel purchased from Summerhill Homes, which had planned to develop a condominium project there.

Jobs didn't disclose the collective purchase price of the properties, but told the council the company could have found lower-priced land if it had left the city.

"But after looking at a lot of things, we found something in Cupertino that was a possibility. It was more expensive, a lot more expensive than we could get elsewhere, but it was something where we could stay in the area that we like the best," he said at the meeting.

The new campus will take about three years to design and build and is expected to accommodate 3,000 to 3,500 employees.

Boosting city revenue

Sales tax is the city's main revenue source. It receives sales tax on Apple's Internet business-to-business sales. Though officials won't release specific dollar figures, they do say Apple is the city's number one taxpayer.

"So indeed, Apple is a very important contributor to the services we provide our residents," Lowenthal said.

Apple and its employees help support surrounding businesses and retailers as well.

BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse and myriad other restaurants in the area enjoy a bustling lunchtime business thanks to Apple employees.

The win-a-free-lunch business card bowl at Armadillo Willy's is typically filled with cards from Apple employees, managers said.

When Apple shuts down for holidays, such as at Christmas, eateries such as Armadillo Willy's and Pebbles Deli-Cafe on De Anza Blvd. feel the pinch.

Cupertino would be little known to the rest of the world were it not for Apple.

In his travels, Lowenthal said he refers to Cupertino "as the home of Apple."

"People in China, Japan, England, Colombia, and Mexico know Apple more than they know Cupertino. Identity is important. Apple leaving Cupertino would have been a terrible blow to our identity," he said.

A boon to local schools

Beyond tax dollars, Apple contributes to the educational community in many ways.

"Apple has been generous. They have given tens of thousands of dollars and lots of equipment to our schools' foundations: the Cupertino Educational Endowment Foundation and the Fremont Union High Schools Foundation. They also equipped our senior center with free computers to help our seniors learn and stay current with technology," Lowenthal said.

Cupertino Union School District is a long-time Apple product-user and a senior representative from the company sits on the district's technology advisory committee.

"Apple provides assistance and advice in identifying ways to integrate technology into the curriculum. Some examples of this would be training in the uses of i-Movie and podcasting in the classroom," said Jeremy Nishihara, spokesman for the district.

Julie Reid, a teacher at Murdock-Portal Elementary, has podcast links on her classroom website where the latest news of the classroom can be heard, or technology projects the students have worked on can be viewed.

Reid is a Cupertino Education Endowment Foundation innovative technology grant winner.

Students in Susan Woods' class at Nimitz Elementary won a $1,000 grant from the foundation for best use of technology in a primary classroom in the district.

Nimitz Principal Dale Jones said Apple's presence at the school includes almost 50 Apple employees who visited this year. They tutored students one-on-one in the computer lab and regular classrooms, provided technological troubleshooting, configured networks and spent time with children of single-parent families.

"They take kids out to shoot baskets with them, play with them, just make them feel special," Jones said.

De Anza College is using Apple products and technology for convergence journalism. The school newspaper, La Voz, brings together print media and a web page to podcast school news.

"We have a premier community college journalism program and we're right in their backyard," said John Swensson, dean of language arts.

The company and the school are jointly looking at ways to video-stream classes using audio and video files.

"I think we've already turned on iTunes U," he said.

He expects the program to be fully functional by fall. Classes will be available to students by downloading lectures through iTunes U. One benefit: students will be able to view the lecture as often as they like.

"Some students learn well from repetition," Swensson said.

Eleanor Watanabe, executive director of Cupertino Education Endowment Foundation, said the company has helped the organization with its challenge of staying on the technological cutting edge.

Watanabe said the district uses primarily Mac computers and has looked to Apple for guidance in staying on the cutting edge of technology in schools.

"It is fair to say that Apple is an integral part of our community. They impact our revenue, our services, our schools and our identity, all in positive ways," Lowenthal said.