The Santa Clarita Valley is offering new economic incentives to attract more industries to the region. The Santa Clarita Economic Development Corp., in partnership with Los Angeles County, has set aside $200,000 for Industry Cluster Attraction Incentives. The aim is to attract new businesses to targeted industries: aerospace, medical devices, information technology, manufacturing and entertainment. Santa Clarita is already home to several large businesses in those industries, including MannKind Corp., SetPoint Medical, Wesco Aircraft Holdings and Advanced Dynamics International. Incentives of up to $40,000 will be awarded. To qualify, businesses must begin operations in the Santa Clarita Valley with at least 40 employees. “This incentive helps defray permitting costs so companies can find the location right for them,” said Holly Schroeder, chief executive of the economic development corporation. “This incentive demonstrates our commitment to being pro-active in recruiting these sectors to the Santa Clarita Valley.” The Santa Clarita Valley has about 20 million square feet of industrial space with a vacancy rate of about 5 percent, according to fourth quarter numbers from the L.A. office of Colliers International. But the area is betting big on industrial users, with about 2 million square feet of new industrial space set to break ground in the next year or so. The office market is much weaker, with about 2.3 million square feet of space and a vacancy rate of 21 percent, according to Colliers.
