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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Valley at Mid-Year: Growth and Disparity

It’s mid-year, believe it or not, and time to take stock of where we’ve been and where we’re going in the Valley-area business world. Synthesizing the news of the first half of 2007 locally, there are lots of trends developing out there. Just a few: Green is Keen So-called green industries are hot stuff this year. You’ve seen us writing more about them over the past several months. That’s because what were once small and obscure companies laboring in an area not a lot of people cared about now have a higher profile. Increased government attention on green issues as well as greater attention being paid to the subject by larger investment firms have made companies such as Solar Electrical Systems in Westlake Village and Kreido Biofuels in Camarillo more important to our overall economy. Undoubtedly, with a governor making the cover of Time magazine for his green strategy, California will continue to be a focal point of the rising green economy as we move into 2008 and beyond. Growth, Growth, Growth: From my vantage point at my fourth floor residence at The Gallery apartments at the NoHo Commons, my life has been consumed by what is probably the most healthy trend we’ve seen in 2007 that being the continued development in our area of retail and residential projects such as the one in my neighborhood. As Senior Reporter Shelly Garcia explains in her special report on retail in this issue of the Business Journal, consumers still can’t get enough to buy. And because of our great demographics, trendy and specialized retailers love our area. She also reports that even large institutional investors are getting involved in smaller neighborhood shopping centers such as the Gateway Village center in Valencia. Lots of potential in our geographic area, these investors are finding, including steady population growth. The larger investors are getting into the fray also in large part due to the rising prices of these centers. Small-to-Mid-Size Business Dilemma: In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve been running a recurring series this year called “Saving Business in the Valley.” It’s supposed to be a constructive look at why businesses leave (or stay) in our area and what our elected officials are doing (or not doing) to nurture a healthy climate for companies. The bulk of companies in our greater Valley area are of the small-to-mid-size range and they aren’t always as optimistic as the large institutional investors are about doing business here. It’s costly. So what we have developing it seems is an economy that is humming along nicely but often leaves its most valuable assets (these smaller companies) behind. I’ve called for a summit on this before and am doing so again. Let’s get businesses of all sizes, VICA, the Economic Alliance, the chambers, our elected officials, non-profit organizations and the media together to try to work this through so there’s not quite such a disparity. Business Journal Editor Jason Schaff can be reached at (818) 316-3125 or at [email protected] .

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