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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Development Head Hitts Leaving Post

Ken Hitts has announced that he will leave his position as director of Economic and Business Development for the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley to become the City of Glendale’s newest economic development manager. During his two years of employment at the alliance, Hitts made a name for himself by multitasking and finding solutions when none seemed possible, according to Alliance head Bruce Ackerman. “He had an uncanny ability to work with a business and find solutions,” Ackerman said. “He really has developed skills in that area. He had an amazing capacity to do 10 jobs at the same time. He could deal with a half-dozen businesses and provide help for all of them.” Hitts’ last day will be Nov. 19. Ackerman said that Hitts’ background was an asset as well. In 1991, late Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley appointed Hitts to the position of director of industrial and regional programs. Four years later, Hitts served as senior business development representative under former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan. During this time, he was assigned to cover the San Fernando Valley, where he facilitated development projects and company expansions. Over the past two years at the Economic Alliance, Hitts said that his work in some sectors has been more memorable than in others. “I would say some of the work we’ve done in the manufacturing sector highlighting some of the opportunities that exist to serve manufacturers in the area, workforce development, real estate needs (stands out).” On the other hand, the permits and entitlements process posed challenges for Hitts. “That’s probably what most companies find to be a major challenge, everything from zoning issues to permits and inspections,” he explained. On that front, his successor may have an easier time, however. That’s because the Planning Department has streamlined some of its services. Hitts is excited about his switch to the City of Glendale, a municipality he described as having strong management, good fiscal leadership and a good city council. “I’m looking forward to the challenge of working in a city that has a lot of attributes that can be further enhanced and built upon,” he said. Ackerman, of course, has a different take on Hitts’ imminent switch to the city, which he called a loss for the alliance but a gain for Glendale. “I think he’s going to be an absolute godsend to Glendale,” Ackerman said. However, he added, “The good news is he’s still in our backyard.”

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