EDC releases annual report

January 31, 2012

2011 Accomplishments for the SCV Economic Development Corp. 10 businesses attracted or retained 615 jobs represented 350 companies have been contacted about relocating to SCV 34 active prospects interested in possibly relocating to the SCV Received conditional designation for a new, expanded valley-wide Enterprise Zone. Upon final approval, EZ program benefits will be retroactive to Jan. 1, 2011. Built and launched the region’s first SCV Business Directory and GIS enabled buildings & sites database with profiles of over 300 available buildings and sites. Hosted the Economic & Real Estate Outlook conference with College of the Canyons. Published a 50-page marketing Economic Development magazine showcasing the aerospace and defense industries.

Releasing its annual report of 2011 accomplishments, the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corp. cited business attraction and retention efforts among its many achievements for 2011.

The nonprofit organization said it had worked with 10 businesses to either attract them to or retain them in the SCV region, accounting for 615 jobs.

Because many of the projects are still in the confidential phase of receiving assistance thought the economic-development organization, the SCVEDC cannot yet name the companies, said Jonas Peterson, CEO and president for the SCVEDC.

But of those 10 projects, the SCVEDC worked to attract eight companies and retain two local companies, Peterson said.

With regards to retention efforts to keep companies in the Santa Clarita Valley, Peterson said most companies want to stay in the Santa Clarita Valley. However, they may have real-estate needs, emerging markets or operational issues that cause them to take a look at other locations.

“Through our Business Expansion and Retention (B.E.A.R) program, we are able to provide real-estate services, access to local, state and federal incentives, technical assistance, liaison services with the city and county, cost containment consulting, access to workforce training programs and much more,” he said.

The SCVEDC states that more than 80 percent of all new jobs created will come from existing companies and that it’s much easier to work to keep those companies in the region than to attract new prospects. As a result, the organization is focused on strengthening existing firms and continuously improving the local operating environment for companies.

Since the organization kicked off its attraction campaign in June 2011, it has pitched relocation efforts to more than 350 companies and currently has 34 active prospects that are considering relocating to the SCV.

“In 2011, most of our business attraction outreach was focused on the San Fernando Valley,” Peterson said. “With many of these clients, we can identify both cost and quality advantages for relocating to the Santa Clarita Valley.”

The SCVEDC plans to continue focusing on the San Fernando Valley in 2012 but also expand its outreach efforts to companies in the Antelope Valley, as well.

“We’re very enthused and excited about the prospects for this year,” said Don Fleming, co-chairman of the SCVEDC and co-owner of Valencia Acura.

The economic-development organization is working with bigger companies that all offer higher-paying jobs, Fleming said.
But as the SCVEDC works with many of the qualified prospects, many of those companies have asked to remain anonymous for the time being.

Among the issues facing the attraction effort is the region’s availability of 100,000-square-foot commercial buildings, Fleming said. But the organization is looking at solutions, such as building a facility to suit a new company. The land is available, he said.

“We anticipate a lot of good things in 2012,” he said.

Among the good news is the second annual SCV Economic & Real Estate Outlook Conference being held Feb. 23 at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Valencia, presented by the SCVEDC and College of the Canyons.

Last year’s event was well-attended, and early indicators for the 2012 event are that support for the conference will exceed that for the 2011 conference.

Among the 2011 achievements noted by the SCVEDC was securing the valleywide Enterprise Zone program. Despite the program being threatened in state budget cuts last year, an organized lobbying effort to protect the program was successful and it is expected to be officially recognized in early 2012.

The key fact for SCV business owners to keep in mind, Peterson said, is when the local Enterprise Zone program receives final approval, the benefits will be retroactive to Jan. 1, 2011.

“This retroactive effective date means that companies in the zone will be able to qualify hiring and investing activity that occurred in all of 2011,” Peterson said

While applications will not be processed until final approval of zone expansion is granted by the state, Peterson said companies should proceed with hiring and investing.

“When final approval does come, businesses in our unincorporated areas will be able to apply for benefits based on 2011 activity,” he said.

One of the more critical efforts developed by the SCVEDC last year was the building of a central database of local businesses and commercial/office space available in the SCV.

While the directories will continue to have updates loaded into them, it is the area’s first public, comprehensive list available to anyone researching the area.

“Our real estate and business directory is constantly changing and we’re working to add more functionality for users,” Peterson said.

As part of the organization’s business attraction efforts, the SCVEDC also published an economic-development magazine in December 2011 with a focus on the aerospace and defense industry and on the key industry target areas based on existing businesses located in the region.

As for the achievements of this young organization (the president was hired in June 2010), the SCVEDC’s performance measurements show it is on track to being one of the more productive economic development organizations, Peterson said.

“We ran an internal analysis of some of the larger economic development groups in California, Arizona and Nevada,” Peterson said. “We found that our young organization has been able to generate significant results with a relatively small staff and overall budget. Our numbers for jobs attracted, jobs retained, publications, marketing outreach and active projects are all on par with noticeably larger organizations.”

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