Glendale was named the most business-friendly large city in the county Thursday night by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., while Glendora took the honors for the most business-friendly small city. The awards, handed out at the LAEDC’s 19th annual gala at the Beverly Hilton, are designed to foster friendly competition among local cities to be the most attractive to business. Winners must make economic development a priority, facilitate business entry and expansion, maintain competitive tax rates and fees, and bring economic incentives to the table. “The city of Glendale believes that every department and every employee is in the economic development business,” said LAEDC Chief Executive Bill Allen. “Through this culture the city has fostered a low cost of doing business and excellent customer service, a 24-hour callback policy, streamlined permitting, and satisfaction surveys to ensure businesses agree that their needs are being met.” Glendale beat out four other finalists in the large cities category: Bellflower, Lakewood, Palmdale and Santa Clarita. The category includes cities with more than 65,000 residents. Last year, Lancaster in the Antelope Valley won in the large city category Glendora was cited by Allen for keeping business costs and red tape low, and for a program that assists startups and existing businesses create jobs. “The city’s economic development staff visits hundreds of businesses to help them access city programs and workshops and inform them of available space to grow,” he said. The four other small city finalists were Artesia, El Segundo, Pico Rivera and Vernon. La Mirada won last year in the category. In addition to the business-friendly city awards, the LAEDC honored Anthony Pritzker, managing partner of private equity and venture capital firm Pritzker Group’s Los Angeles office, UCLA and American Honda Motor Co. for their contributions to the local economy.
