Summer 2004 was very, very good to San Joaquin County in some respects, even as a levee break in June prompted President George W. Bush to declare a major disaster in the county.
      As the water receded, area spirits were pumped up by a couple of business developments. In late June, workers at Stockton's Dana Corp. truck-frame plant voted 101-91 to reject joining a union. The plant exclusively serves the New United Motors Manufacturing plant in Fremont, the Toyota/General Motors joint venture that just celebrated its 20th anniversary in the state. Union officials plan to file objections with the National Labor Relations Board.
      In July, Oldcastle, one of five U.S. divisions of Irish multinational CRH, broke ground on a 32,000-sq.-ft. (2,973-sq.-m.), $13-million facility that will employ up to 30 people in the manufacture of landscaping pavers and custom bricks.
      "San Joaquin County's transportation system gives us easy access to the Bay Area, Nevada and everywhere else," said company president Ted Kozikowski, whose firm in 2003 embarked on a 31,000-sq.-ft. (2,880-sq.-m.), $11-million plant in Bonner Springs, Kansas.