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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Glendale Benefits From Being Close to L.A., But Not Too Close

Since the mid-1970s, Glendale has steadily become a business center, with spikes in the number of corporations in the city taking place in the late ’80s, the late ’90s and at the beginning of this decade. Now, Glendale is headquarters to corporations such as Nestl & #233; USA, Public Storage, Disney Consumer Products and dineEquity, formerly IHOP Corp. While reasons vary as to why Glendale is a good fit for major companies, the city’s central location is oft-cited as the source of its allure. “It’s a good environment,” said Mark Billfield, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Public Storage. “It’s close to Los Angeles. It attracts very good employees from all over L.A.” Public Storage has been in the city since its founding in 1971, while Nestl & #233; USA moved to Glendale from the Mid-Wilshire District of Los Angeles in 1990. Edie Burge, manager of the company’s Corporate & Brand Affairs department, discussed why Glendale is a good fit for Nestl & #233;, as well as the economic impact it makes on the city. “This is a very central location,” Burge said. “People here live everywhere, the West Side, Orange County, South Bay It’s a convenient location with good freeway access. That was probably one of the considerations,” Burge said of Nestl & #233;’s move to Glendale. In addition to having access to three major freeways: the 134, the 5 and the 2, “We’re 10 minutes from Bob Hope Airport and 30 miles to a half-hour to the Port of Los Angeles in Long Beach,” said Philip Lanzafame, the City of Glendale’s Director of Development Services. About 1,700 employees and contractors work for Nestl & #233; in Glendale, all of which contribute to the city by patronizing local businesses, malls, restaurants, gas stations and grocery stores, Burge said. “We also hold a number of events at The Alex Theatre and Glendale Hilton,” she continued. “For our annual State of the Company, we rent out The Alex. We hold employee events at the Glendale Hilton, and when we have visitors to our Glendale office, we encourage them to stay at the Glendale Hilton, which is conveniently located across the street from our office.” Lanzafame said that it’s difficult to quantify the financial impact companies such as Nestl & #233; make on the city, but having a critical mass of employees helps to support the commercial ventures that are going on in small business. The city’s central location isn’t the only draw for business, Lanzafame said. “We don’t have a business license tax,” he pointed out. “We don’t have a gross receipts tax, employee tax. We have competitive phone rates.” Lanzafame said that there’s also a wide range of housing options and a clean infrastructure that includes a variety of parks and hiking trails. Moreover, the Glendale Galleria, The Americana at Brand and the Brand Boulevard of Cars are heavyweight attractions that intensify Glendale’s allure, Lanzafame believes. Also, “Glendale has smaller, slower-paced villages like Montrose that have provided yet another shopping or dining experience that make Glendale desirable,” he said. “When you then combine that with the safety of being in Glendale we are the safest city in the country with a population of over 200,000 people, we have a Class 1 Fire Department it makes for a good corporate environment,” Lanzafame said. “People can be proud to say, ‘Our home is in Glendale.'” The fact that Glendale is home to two regional medical centers Glendale Adventist Medical Center and Glendale Memorial Hospital adds to the city’s safety factor, Lanzafame said. Additionally, Glendale Adventist Medical Center is one of the city’s largest employers. Hospital head Morrie Dean said that Glendale Adventist “enjoys being part of the infrastructure.” Also, “We have world class medical facilities, and we consider ourselves definitely able to provide the services the community needs, so they can stay locally for all their health care needs, whether it be emergency needs or cancer oncology, neurological or women’s and children’s issues.” Dean said that Glendale has been a great location for the organization over the years, and he cited many of the same factors that Lanzafame did, such as airport and freeway access, when explaining why. Over the years, Nestl & #233; has made it a point to contribute to the agencies in Glendale that keep the community safe for residents. “We’ve been involved in the Glendale community since we moved into the building,” said Rita Henderson, Manager of Community Affairs and Educational Programs. Added Burge, “We do participate with regional law enforcement and fire services. We let them do training on some of our vacant floors. We make donations of water and our Power Bar products to community protective agencies.” The company has also adopted schools in the area, recently holding a summit in its offices for students. “We allow our employees paid time off to be mentors to the students there,” Henderson said. A member of the Glendale Chamber of Commerce, Nestl & #233; also supports the Glendale Education Foundation and Glendale Unified, as well as local agencies such as Glendale Healthy Kids and Glendale Clean and Beautiful. There’s one major reason Nestl & #233; is such a force in the community. Burge said, “It’s a great location for our employees to work.”

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