Enterprise Zone Boundaries Extended into West Valley

The boundaries of a state enterprise zone have been extended to include the west San Fernando Valley, city officials announced this week. Hotels, hospitals, retail shopping centers, and aerospace manufacturers are among the companies expected to be able to use the tax benefits being located within the zone brings. Before the expansion the enterprise zone had been primarily in the northeast portion of the Valley. The program is administered by the state Department of Housing and Community Development. Extending the boundaries of the enterprise zone shows that Los Angeles is the place to do business in the 21st Century, said Austin Beutner, first deputy mayor and chief executive of economic and business policy. “This success highlights what we can accomplish when we all work together to overcome bureaucratic status quo,” Beutner said. The benefits of a being located in an enterprise zone are an employee hiring tax credit; a 35 percent utility reduction over five years; sales and use tax income credits for machinery and equipment purchases; and lender interest deduction for loans to businesses. The city also offers incentives of its own to businesses in an enterprise zone. Now located within the zone are the navigation systems division of Northrop Grumman, the Warner Center – Hilton Hotel, the Marriott Warner Center Hotel, Kaiser Permanente Hospital, Health Net Inc., Nestle Waters NA Inc., and Zenith Insurance Corp. “Having the Enterprise Zone expanded in the San Fernando Valley is some of the best news we have ever had,” said Bruce Ackerman, President and CEO of the Valley Economic Alliance. “This gives us the ability to retain existing businesses that may be considering moving from the Valley and enhances our ability to attract new businesses from outside of the State.” Mark R. Madler