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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Valley Has Colorful Mix of Manufacturers

This issue is dedicated to the Valley’s strong and diverse manufacturing industry. Our List of the Valley’s Largest Manufacturing Companies offers a nod to our well-rounded manufacturing base, highlighting 55 companies that span virtually every imaginable sector. This year, our List showed a 44 percent increase in participation when compared to last year’s List, which included 45 companies. There are many more companies that we have yet to discover. But the employers on this year’s list represent an impressive workforce of about 15,370. Seventeen of the companies on the List did not appear last year. They include: Active Inner Actions, Andrews Powder Coatings, Bayless Engineering, Berloc Signs, Blake Wire and Cable Corp., Blue Microphones, Classic Cosmetics, C-P Manufacturing, Dynamic Automation, Dytran Instruments, Hampton Scott Group, Hydroelectric Power (HH2), Industrial Electronic Engineers, Natel Engineering, OPI, Topaz Lighting and Zerran International. Many of the companies on the List, as well as others, are featured in this issue. Our centerpiece story on Page One shines the spotlight on Zerran International, a Pacoima company that develops and manufactures vegan formaldehyde-free smoothing and re-texturizing hair products. The company is growing its business through an aggressive international expansion strategy, and our story explores its latest foray into the Brazilian market. In the Upfront section, there’s news coming out of Iris International (page 4). The company, known for developing urinalysis testing systems, is engaging in an entirely new product market — blood tests. Analysts say the move could help the firm add as much as $5 million in revenue next year. In News & Analysis, there is a surprising number of Valley area manufacturing companies on the move including Turbonetics Inc. of Moorpark (page 5), California Lasers Inc. of Simi Valley (page 5) and Matthews Studio Equipment of Burbank (page 6). This a good sign, as these companies are outgrowing their current locations and investing capital in their business with facility expansions and upgrades. Some are even hiring. The region also attracted a new player from out of state: Boulder Electric Vehicle. The startup company spent a year and a half looking for a site in the greater Los Angeles area and landed on a 30,000-square-foot space in Chatsworth (page 9). CEO Carter Brown said the Colorado-based company selected the San Fernando Valley location for its West Coast plant because of its skilled workforce, proximity to airports and tax incentives. Indeed, we’re hoping more companies will recognize the merits of our Valley’s manufacturing industry, join our ranks and create more jobs. But in this issue, we’re sharing the stories of the companies that are here doing innovative work and contributing to our economy each day.

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