The Santa Clarita Valley has been approved for a new enterprise zone, state officials announced. The Santa Clarita Valley was one of three communities in the state to receive the approval by the California Department of Housing and Community Development. The other two communities were Anaheim and Harbor Gateway. The new local zone, which is part of a state program designed to boost business investment and job creation, replaces the already existing enterprise zone for the city of Santa Clarita. The new zone now includes unincorporated parts of the Santa Clarita Valley that lie outside city limits. “Our successful efforts to secure the enterprise zone designation for the Santa Clarita Valley must be followed by an immediate implementation of an aggressive and targeted marketing plan to attract new businesses and reach out to existing local companies,” said Los Angeles County Mayor and Supervisor Michael Antonovich, whose district includes the Santa Clarita Valley. Leaders of the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation, which helped lead the effort in applying for a new zone, said designation will create a boost for businesses in the area. “I believe the new enterprise zone will enable our entire Valley to become a hot spot of economic activity,” said Jonas Peterson, the organization’s executive director. “For many firms, the Enterprise Zone program will be a game changer and at SCVEDC we view it as a strategic opportunity.” Incentives of the program include hiring tax credits, sales tax credits for machinery purchases, up-front expensing on certain depreciable property, preference points on state contracts and net interest deductions for those lending to Enterprise Zone businesses. Jessica Vernabe
