List Story

By HILDY MEDINA Staff Reporter The San Fernando Valley’s largest privately held companies are a diverse lot, ranging from an electrical equipment wholesaler and a managed care provider to a plastics manufacturer and a car dealership. Showing explosive growth from last year was Westlake Village-based Consolidated Electrical Distributors, a wholesaler and distributor of electrical equipment that jumped from No. 3 on last year’s List to No. 1. The company took in an estimated $1.6 billion in revenues during its fiscal 1996, according to the List, up from $640 million in revenues in fiscal 1995. Bumped from the No. 1 spot was chemical and plastics manufacturer PMC Inc., which is now No. 3. Revenues were flat at PMC last year, when it posted $780 million in sales the same as 1995. The oldest company of the bunch, 104-year-old citrus growing co-operative Sunkist Growers Inc., is No. 2 on the List, with more than $1 billion in revenues. Headquartered in Sherman Oaks, Sunkist reflects Los Angeles’ long agricultural history. L.A. County at one time was one of the largest citrus-producing regions in the country. While Sunkist is the only food-related company on this year’s List, nearly a quarter of the top 25 largest private companies are wholesalers, including two in the top 10 Consolidated Electrical Distribution and travel-wholesaler Pleasant Travel Service Inc., which is No. 8 on the List with $320 million. Another major industry grouping is construction. Two of the top 10 companies on the List are construction firms No. 5 Tutor-Saliba Corp. (a contractor on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s subway project) with $571 million in revenues and Calabasas-based Environmental Industries, a major landscape and irrigation construction firm. Environmental Industries is No. 9 on the List with $300 million in revenues, up from $265 million in 1995. The number of cars being sold in the Valley is a reflection of the region’s improving economy. Two of the List’s top 25 private companies are auto dealerships, and both reported strong sales growth in 1996 over 1995. North Hills-based Galpin Motors Inc. ranked at No. 6, rising from $433 million in 1995 to $501 million in 1996. Toyota of North Hollywood ranks No. 17, pulling in $98 million compared to $80.5 million in 1995. Conspicuously absent from this year’s List are media and entertainment companies, which make up one of the Valley’s most important industries. Of the list’s 25 private companies only one, Woodland Hills-based Tower Media Inc., No. 12 on the List, is media-related. Tower Media publishes the Daily News of Los Angeles. Motion picture and television production companies are notoriously reluctant to share revenue information, because such details can affect negotiations on future contracts. Although some Valley-based production companies probably deserve a space on the List, it is impossible to determine their annual revenues.