Dale Blumenthal is your typical Valley businessperson . He’s a smart, driven and focused business owner who has built a successful commercial interior design firm that has worked on many area offices including local banks. I say he’s typical because he’s the life and blood of our Valley economy. He employs local people and loves the Valley, having lived here his whole life. Why would he want to do business anywhere else? That’s why I’m writing about him and his Sun Valley-based business DesignWorkPlace Inc. We can’t make it as a cohesive economy without him and the thousands of other business owners who deal with our difficult business climate in the City of L.A. They don’t leave because they like it here. His story illustrates what is right and what is wrong with our business environment . Dale started his own firm in 1989 after having worked for another designer. He does interior design for banks and other similar office types such as law offices. He’s done Alliance Bank and Bank of Santa Clarita locally. Looking for space, he found a commercial condo in Sun Valley . He decided that it was better to buy and has a nice space in an industrial area of the Valley. One of the reasons he chose that spot was because it’s in an expanded Enterprise Zone which runs from Pacoima all the way down through North Hollywood. But Dale didn’t even know it was there. He learned about it thanks to brokers from CB Richard Ellis who told him about it. And, you know, a lot of business owners don’t know about this zone which runs through portions of Arleta, Panorama City, Van Nuys and Sylmar. It’s the best kept secret for how to better cope with the high cost of doing business in L.A. What do companies get that do business in the zone? — Employer Hiring Credits: Companies can claim tax credits up to $35,100 over a five-year period per each qualified employee. Qualifications include such things as hiring employees who live in the zone. — Sales and Use Tax Credits: An Enterprise Zone business can receive a tax credit of 100 percent of the sales/use tax paid for equipment purchases for use in the zone. Machinery, machinery parts, telecommunications equipment and office equipment qualify. There are other benefits such as DWP electric discount rates. Dale has several clients in the Inland Empire and could have easily moved his business there. But he grew up in the Valley (his grandparents were one of the first residents of Panorama City). Plus the Sun Valley location is central and convenient. Finding the enterprise zone was the good news. The bad news as usual in the City of Los Angeles was the nightmare Dale had to go through when he renovated his new space and tried to get it up and running. It was complete bureaucracy in dealing with the city, Dale says. Plan checkers couldn’t agree and there were too many people involved in the process. Typical. But he persevered. I guess the moral of this story is there are ways to deal with the high cost of doing business in L.A. It’s just that a lot of people don’t know about them. Also, moving just isn’t an option for a lot of Valley business owners. For Dale, his talent pool is here. Many of his employees either went to CSUN or Woodbury University. Besides, he’s a Valley guy. He likes it here. Business Journal Editor Jason Schaff can be reached at (818) 316-3125 or at [email protected] .
