SCVEDC Blog

The 2024 Santa Clarita Valley Economic Outlook explores a resilient and evolving local labor market characterized by growth in key industries, changing dynamics, and challenges in workforce retention. Employment and business expansion, workforce training initiatives, and business assistance and attraction remain a primary focus, supported by the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation’s (SCVEDC) integrated approach to attracting diverse business opportunities and job creation. Here are the highlights and insights on employment and workforce trends shaping the region from the 2024 Economic Outlook Book and the 2024 Economic Outlook conference this September:

Valencia, California – June 13^th 2024 – Nycote Laboratories Corporation; a leading provider of advanced coatings solutions, is proud to announce a significant expansion with the purchase of a modern detached industrial building. This strategic move underscores Nycote's commitment to meeting the growing demands of its customers and further solidifies its position as a leader in the aerospace, defense and related high tech industries.

Santa Clarita Valley Chapter Aerospace & Defense Forum Announces New Steering Committee Chair

Eric Jensen, Director of Manufacturing Ramp and Transition at Fralock Inc., steps in as Chair of the Steering Committee of the Santa Clarita Valley Chapter of the Aerospace & Defense Forum as of January 2021. The SCV Chapter was launched in October of 2019 to expand local business collaboration, networking, and information sharing by A&D executives relevant to the business of aerospace, commercial space and defense industries. This eighth chapter of the A&D Forum, sponsored by the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation (SCVEDC), has been well received by the SCV aerospace community with strong engagement and event attendance, even through transition to virtual meetings in 2020 due to COVID.

SCVEDC is Your One-Stop Resource for Business Needs 

The Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation’s (SCVEDC) overarching goals are to support the creation of high-paying jobs for our trained workforce, stimulate economic activity that grows the regional tax base, and strategically position the Santa Clarita Valley (SCV) and its businesses to better compete in the global economy. SCVEDC offers many services and resources to local businesses to help the access tax credits and incentives, workforce development and training, provides vital data and information, and connects companies for networking and peer support. 

Leading Aerospace Companies that Call SCV Home

The Santa Clarita Valley (SCV) is within easy reach of Los Angeles: only 30 miles from downtown LA and 7 miles from its northern border. The fastest-growing community in Los Angeles County, the Santa Clarita Valley is home to a population of nearly 300,000 and the third largest city in LA County, the City of Santa Clarita.

SCV Means Business: Trends in Manufacturing with ITT and King Henry’s Inc.

In case you missed it, over the summer SCVEDC president and CEO Holly Schroeder was able to sit down with a few local leaders to discuss how choosing to locate in the Santa Clarita Valley set them up for success. As they both have ties to the Advanced Manufacturing industry, they shared what current trends they’re experiencing and what to expect moving forward.

San Fernando Valley International Trade Conference

With more than 2 Million residents, Northern Los Angeles County is one of the most thriving regions for LA area businesses. While known for its concentration of film and entertainment companies, Santa Clarita Valley and San Fernando Valley employ thousands of engineers and designers in the Aerospace sector. Aerospace sector in Los Angeles is the 2nd largest export sector in US behind Washington State with over 4000 firms in Southern California.

The IoT in Aerospace and Defense

With the massive amount of data processing and storage required for the daily operations of Aerospace and Defense companies, automation has become not just a novelty, but a necessity. As we’ve discussed before, the Internet of Things (IoT) has drastically altered the way many manufacturing companies operate by streamlining production and increasing data collection and analysis.

Current Trends in the Aerospace and Defense Industry

Although modern air travel as we know it has not changed much over the past 50 years or so, the aerospace and defense industry has been quite the opposite. Companies in the sector are proving time and again that they aren’t afraid to incorporate new technology and concepts into their products, which are finally beginning to carry over into commercial aircraft as well. Here are four trends to be on the lookout for in the near future:

The History and Evolution of Aerospace Manufacturing

When it comes to the manufacturing industry, it’s impossible to ignore the aerospace cluster which employs more than 350,000 people in California alone. In fact, for the first time in over a decade, more jobs in the industry are flowing into the United States rather than to foreign countries. We’ve come a long way from the wooden aircraft of the early 20^th century flown by Orville and Wilbur Wright, however, so let’s look at how aerospace manufacturing has evolved since the first flight in 1903.

CyberSecurity Looms Large for SCV Aerospace & Defense Companies

Santa Clarita is home to more than 90 companies serving the Aerospace & Defense industry – either as Tier 1 suppliers to Department of Defense prime contractors such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing or Northop Grumman, or as Tier 2 or Tier 3 subcontractors.

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.

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.

Aerospace company Air Bolt Group of North Hollywood signed a 10-year lease in March for an 8,500 square foot building on Avenue Crocker in the Valencia Industrial Center. NAI Capital helped broker the deal. Additional terms of the lease were not disclosed. Air Bolt manufactures latches, struts, buts and bolts for commercial aircraft.

The Southern California aerospace industry is maintaining its competitiveness, according to a detailed report just released by the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation in March.