This edition is devoted to news about public companies with a headquarters or major presence in the greater San Fernando Valley region. The region benefits from being home to more than 100 public companies, more than half of which are represented on our List of Largest Valley Public Companies (page 26). Companies such as The Walt Disney Co., Amgen Inc., and Northrop Grumman Corp., anchor our region, employing thousands of local workers and pumping millions of dollars into the local and state economy. If public companies here grow, hire workers and innovate, they send a message of increased confidence in the economy and where it’s headed. Confidence is a powerful thing. But the activity at Valley area companies has been a mixed bag. It’s difficult to make heads or tails of their activities and the larger implications on our local economy. This unfortunately creates more uncertainty at a time when everyone is desperately searching for something to count on. On Page One, there’s news of more than 450 layoffs at Boeing Inc., The Cheesecake Factory, ITT Exelis, Sanyo North America, and MetLife Home Loans. They’re cutting workers for different reasons, but the moves hurt the region just the same. Sanyo is leaving the Valley entirely. But as one company leaves, another is preparing to arrive. Alabama-based mining giant Vulcan Materials Co. will move its Western headquarters to Glendale, bringing about 90 jobs from Los Angeles, where it is currently headquartered on San Fernando Road. The company selected office space at 500 N. Brand Ave., because after it laid off 200 workers in December, it only needed half the space; nearby amenities were another draw. DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. says plans to operate a studio in China will bring additional hiring at the Glendale campus (see Page 11). How many jobs the new operations will create remains to be seen. This month, The Walt Disney Co. plans to release its environmental impact report for a new production complex at the 890-acre Golden Oak Ranch property in the Santa Clarita Valley, which could break ground by the end of the year, pending county approvals (see Page 1). During construction, the Disney ABC Studios at the Ranch project will create an estimated 3,152 jobs; at full build-out, the project will employ more than 2,800 full-time and part-time workers and bring tens of millions of dollars in annual revenue to the state and county each year. Amgen, the biotech behemoth based in Thousand Oaks, and Woodland Hills-based insurance heavyweight Health Net Inc. are entering new markets in hopes of generating billions (see Page 1). If their efforts are successful, we can only hope they will need to hire more local employees to handle the new business. Hiring will bring confidence. And even a little confidence goes a long way.