IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 18, 2007
LAEDC Announces Finalists: “Most Business-Friendly City” Award
***
Six cities are finalists for LAEDC “Eddy” Award® Recognizing Best Practices
in Economic Development
Los Angeles— The Los Angeles County Economic Development
Corporation (LAEDC) announced the finalists today (Tuesday) for Los
Angeles County’s “Most
Business-Friendly City.” The cities of Burbank,
Cerritos, Lancaster,
Long Beach, Palmdale and Santa
Clarita have been selected from the 88 cities in LA County by a blue-ribbon
panel of judges for their commitment to attracting and retaining businesses
which provide quality jobs for their residents. The winner will be presented at
LAEDC’s Annual Eddy Awards®, honoring economic development leadership, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2007 at the Beverly
Hilton hotel (9876 Wilshire Blvd,
Beverly Hills, CA
90210). More than 700 leaders from the business,
government, and education communities are expected to attend the gala dinner.
In the past 25 years, the County of Los Angeles has added more than 2.5 million residents,
but only about half a million jobs. Some
cities in the County have actually lost jobs in that period, while others have
added many new jobs. Much of the reason
for that disparity is that many cities are more proactive than others about
attracting and retaining quality jobs that pay good salaries and generate
healthy tax revenues.
“To ensure the economic health
of our region, we need to be more aggressive in attracting and
retaining businesses and the jobs they bring to our many communities,
said Bill Allen, LAEDC president and CEO. “LA County is quickly becoming the Business
Capital of America, and this award will showcase the city that best shows what
it means to be business-friendly in our region,” he said.
The award finalists were selected based on the following criteria:
Ø
Demonstrated commitment to economic development
as a priority
Ø
Excellence in programs and services designed to
facilitate business entry, expansion and retention
Ø
Economic development activity over past three
years
Ø
Competitive business tax rates and fee
structures
Ø
Availability of economic incentives
Ø
Effective communication with and about business
clients
Ø
Each winner is eligible to reapply in three
years
Each of the finalists has created
a business-friendly environment that encourages businesses to locate or expand
in their respective communities. Burbank has no gross receipts business license
tax, and a streamlined permit process. They
provide innovative financing programs for businesses and offer competitive
incentive programs. They also actively
market their city services to key decision makers and major corporations.
Free “wifi” service in their downtown area and competitive utility
user taxes are additional benefits of doing business in Burbank.
Cerritos offers businesses a strategic location. They assess the needs of existing businesses
and provide an ombudsman to escort businesses through their development
projects. They have a business improvement district, and have designated
portions of the city as “redevelopment project areas” providing opportunities
for innovative financing. Cerritos
offers a streamlined permit process and is dedicated to strategic planning and
high-quality development standards. They
are also a “no-or-low property tax city.”
Lancaster combines
plentiful land at affordable prices, strong incentives including an Enterprise
Zone and redevelopment project areas, a fast-track permit process and a dedicated
project ombudsman to attract businesses to its city. They have an aggressive and pro-business City
Council, which takes a practical approach to business. They also have a
well-educated and experienced workforce, which contributes to an ideal
environment for businesses to thrive and grow.
Long Beach has
demonstrated its commitment to retaining jobs in its region through an investment
in the local business community by offering Enterprise Zone benefits, expedited
permit processing, and a transparent proactive government comprised of civic
leaders who understand the necessity of planned growth. Their Long Beach
Business Development
Center offers grants and loans,
permit and site selection assistance, and help with employee recruitment and
training.
The City of Palmdale boasts affordable land for development,
proactive business-friendly city leaders, and is a no-or-low property tax city. Palmdale also provides a comprehensive array
of incentives, including Enterprise Zone, redevelopment
project areas, stream-lined permit processing, dedicated project managers,
industrial development bonds, development deferrals and or waivers, a business liaison and a foreign trade zone for those
businesses involved in international trade.
They also have a talented and eager workforce.
Among the benefits of doing
business in the City of Santa Clarita is
that it doesn’t have a business license fee, nor does it assess a utility user
tax and it has one of the State’s newest Enterprise Zones. Santa Clarita offers its businesses and
residents a highly educated workforce, available land for development, site
selection assistance, expedited plan reviews and permit processing, and a high quality of life. It is also a thriving center for industry
clusters such as aerospace manufacturing, bio-medical, entertainment and
technology.
Last year,
the City of El Segundo
was the first place winner for the “Most
Business-Friendly
City.”
About the Eddy
The Eddy Awards® were introduced
by the LAEDC in 1996 to celebrate individuals and organizations that demonstrate
exceptional contributions to positive economic development in the region.
For more information about the Eddy Awards™, including sponsorship opportunities,
please visit www.laedc.org/eddy.
For
past Eddy honorees please visit: http://www.laedc.org/eddy/about.html
About LAEDC (www.LAEDC.org)
The Los Angeles
County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC), the region’s premier
business leadership organization, is a private, non-profit organization
established in 1981. Its mission is to
attract, retain, and grow business and jobs for the regions of Los
Angeles County. Since 1996, the LAEDC has helped retain or
create more than 132,600 jobs, providing $5.6 billion in annual benefit to LA
County.