SCVEDC Blog

Strong economic growth forecast into 2018

“We are in a golden era in the economy,” and economic growth should continue for at least the next year.

That was one of the key points economist Mark Schniepp made to about 300 attendees of the 2017 Economic Outlook Conference at the Hyatt Regency Valencia on Thursday. The annual conference is held by the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corp. and College of the Canyons.

SCV Internships

Recruiting great talent gets more challenging every day. As noted recently by Bisnow, “Today’s young talent is much more concerned with a city’s lifestyle offerings than its job market. This shift in priorities has forced companies to follow the talent, investing millions in office development and expansion in the country’s leading and secondary markets — a trend that is growing in prevalence as the labor market tightens and young talent becomes more scarce.

SCVEDC Wins CALED Award for Business Assistance Program

The California Association for Local Economic Development (CALED), a state-wide, California professional economic development organization, announced the winners of their CALED Awards at their annual conference on March 22^nd. The Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation (SCVEDC) is pleased to win an award of merit for our Business Assistance Visitation Program for 2016-2017, following an Award of Merit for our 40 for 40 incentive program for the 2015-2016 year.

Santa Clarita Valley professionals gathered at the Valley Industry Association lunch Tuesday to hear a keynote address from SCV Economic Development Corporation’s (EDC) President and CEO Holly Schroeder.

SCVEDC 2016 Annual Report

2016 was another great year for the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation (SCVEDC) and as a result, for the Santa Clarita Valley (SCV). With its focus on developing business in the SCV, the SCVEDC delivered again in 2016. Here are some of the highlights from the 2016 SCVEDC Annual Report:

Santa Clarita Named a Best City to Start a Family

Santa Clarita was recently named 27^th out of 350 Best Places to Start a Family by LendEDU. Their unique scoring system ranked cities by the quality of public education, cost of first home, crime and safety rates, and percentage of young families. This honor is added to a long list of accolades the city has received including Best Places to Live in California, Best Places to Retire, and Most Business-Friendly City in Los Angeles County.

The Canyon Club is crossing valleys with its new location in Santa Clarita.

Santa Clarita is ready for its close-up!

Did you know that the Santa Clarita Valley (SCV) has long been known as Hollywood’s backlot? Thanks to its close proximity to Hollywood and Los Angeles, its scenic backdrops, and filming incentive programs from the City, entertainment in the SCV has a long and storied history! All this vibrant television and film location filming added $33 million into the Santa Clarita economy last year. It’s the fourth consecutive year that the estimated economic impact generated from location filming has topped $30 million. 

The Santa Clarita Valley constantly lends its beautiful scenery and diverse geography to the filming of popular movies and TV shows. The SCVEDC is proud to be a partner and supporter of the thriving entertainment industry in the Santa Clarita Valley.

2016 was an exceptional year for the economy of the Santa Clarita Valley, and 2017 promises more positive growth on the horizon. As we look ahead to new developments, expansions, and entertainment offerings, we are excited to see the Santa Clarita Valley continue to flourish and grow. These new additions and expansions support the SCV as a good location for business.

Are you ready to expand your business through exporting? Exporting gives you access to new customers, expanding sales, and increased profits!

ExporTech is the only national program that helps individual companies develop an export plan. They are offering workshop sessions for LA County/San Fernando Valley beginning February 16.

Last week, the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation (SCVEDC) awarded its Industry Cluster Attraction Incentive to Scorpion, a leading Information Technology company in the Santa Clarita Valley. Scorpion is constructing a new Headquarters in the Santa Clarita Valley, with construction set to be completed later this year. The incentive reimburses Scorpion for permit fees incurred during the permitting process of up to $40,000, and is just one of the many SCV business services and resources provided by the SCVEDC.

The 2017 Santa Clarita Economic Outlook Conference

Each year, the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation (SCVEDC) and College of the Canyons (COC) host the Spring release of the Santa Clarita Economic Outlook Forecast at the Santa Clarita Economic Outlook Conference. Mark Schniepp, Director of the California Economic Forecast, and Mark Vitner, Managing Director, Senior Economist at Wells Fargo, this year’s featured economists, will provide an in-depth forecast of our national and local economies, as well as discuss global megatrends. They will be joined by one more speaker (to be announced). This is the only event of this kind with information specific to the Santa Clarita Valley.

Scorpion, one of the fastest growing website design and Internet marketing firms in North America serving legal, healthcare, franchise, and home service clients, broke ground today on their new corporate headquarters in the Santa Clarita Valley. Scorpion’s new headquarters will be the first creative office building of its kind in the area, and will prominently feature an environmentally conscious, employee-centric design.

Attracted by a growing cluster of medical device and bioscience companies, Avita Medical will move its headquarters staff of 25 from Northridge to Santa Clarita by the end of the year. The company specializes in the treatment of wounds and skin defects, including chronic wounds, acute burns and aesthetics.

November is a time to give thanks and a time for reflection as we approach the year’s end. I find myself reflecting on, among other things, my appreciation for our local economy.

We all know Santa Clarita for the master-planned communities, excellent school systems, expansive parks and trails, and overall awesome lifestyle. Many local residents, however, are unaware of what's growing in our valley: business. While most of us drive from one end of this "small town" to the other, we rarely stop to notice that Santa Clarita is home to some major industry giants: Six Flags, Princess Cruises, Quest Diagnostics, Advanced Bionics, Samsung, Sunkist and soon, Logix Federal Credit Union.

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 15, 2016 — AT&T launched ultra-fast internet service in additional cities in Los Angeles County, including in parts of Arcadia, Pasadena, Santa Clarita and surrounding areas. We’re offering a 1 gigabit connection to Los Angeles County homes, apartments and small business locations on our 100% fiber network powered by AT&T Fiber.

Congratulations to Holly Schroeder, President & CEO of the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation, for being named as one of the 200 most influential leaders by the San Fernando Valley Business Journal (SFVBJ) in its inaugural issue of "The Valley 200."

On Thursday night, the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation recognized the City of Santa Clarita as the Most Business Friendly City with a population greater than 68,000 and the City of Pico Rivera as the Most Business Friendly City with a population under 68,000.

I recently penned a column in the Santa Clarita Valley Business Journal suggesting that the key to our economic future is the fact that the SCV is slated to grow substantially in the next several decades. Last Thursday, FivePoint Communities announced a new vision for Newhall Ranch that can transform that idea into reality.

I recently penned a column in the Santa Clarita Valley Business Journal suggesting the fact that the SCV is slated to grow substantially in the next several decades is a key to our economic future.

On Thursday, FivePoint Communities announced a new vision for Newhall Ranch that can transform that idea into reality.

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (November 3, 2016) – In a major step to advance the State of California’s ambitious fight against climate change, FivePoint today announced an unprecedented initiative to develop the Newhall Ranch planned community that will result in no net emissions of greenhouse gases. By implementing a comprehensive array of green innovations onsite and within L.A. County, as well as funding direct emissions reduction activities in California and around the world, “Net Zero Newhall” will achieve net zero emissions of greenhouse gases from both construction and operations – a first for a community of its scale in the United States.

Since the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation was formed more than six years ago, it has helped bring thousands of new jobs to the Santa Clarita Valley. We help recruit companies to the SCV, especially companies seeking a more business friendly environment who are at risk of moving out of state. We also help local companies solve problems and access incentives like workforce training programs and tax credits. Job growth in the Santa Clarita Valley outpaces statewide job growth, and in recent years has outpaced residential construction, creating a jobs-to-housing ratio that is now nearly balanced. With new industrial construction underway, we have the opportunity to locate even more jobs here in the next several years.

As Dave Styler, President and CEO of Logix, remarked in his opening introduction, October 26, 2016 was a momentous day in the history of Logix Federal Credit Union – it marked the beginning of a transitional period that will see the largest credit union in Los Angeles County move from its current Burbank location to a brand new modern building in the Santa Clarita Valley.

The Board of Directors of the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation recently evaluated two LA County ballot measures that impose new taxes: Measure M, which adds a half-cent to the current sales tax for transportation improvements, and Measure A

Kevin Mitchell, vice president of global supply chain at Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, the world’s fifth-largest defense contractor, addressed a capacity audience of more than 70 aerospace business leaders at the SCV Aerospace & Defense Coalition (ADC) breakfast Tuesday, and he gave the audience some pointers on becoming a supplier to the company.

VALENCIA, CA, SEPTEMBER 14, 2016: Scorpion, one of the fastest growing website design and Internet marketing firms in North America serving legal, healthcare, franchise, and home service clients, has purchased a site on which to build their new corporate headquarters in the Santa Clarita Valley.

On September 13, more than 70 business leaders in the Aerospace cluster attended the SCV Aerospace & Defense Coalition (ADC) Breakfast, which featured as its keynote speaker Kevin Mitchell, Vice President of Global Supply Chain at Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems.

The San Francisco area has Silicon Valley and Santa Monica has Silicon Beach. But the burgeoning tech community in the Santa Clarita Valley doesn’t have a catchy nickname.

“Silicon Alley” has been suggested although that name already refers to a section of Manhattan. Tania Mulry, a Santa Clarita-based consultant to startups, likes “Silicon Suburb.”