Business people ranked the city of Santa Clarita as the most business-friendly city in Los Angeles County, while the city of Los Angeles was deemed the worst, according to the annual Pulse Poll conducted by Los Angeles County Business Federation, or BizFed. “I am thrilled to see Santa Clarita’s long-time commitment to being business friendly recognized by the county’s business leaders,” said Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corp. Chief Executive Holly Schroeder, a past chair of BizFed. “Santa Clarita is a city that makes investment in economic development and views its business community as a true partner, and the results are clear.” According to the survey, city government is viewed as the most business friendly. Nearly half of all respondents felt their local municipality is “business friendly,” up from 40 percent in 2016. The state and county did not fare as well. Only 24 percent of respondents believed Los Angeles County is business-friendly while just 14 percent thought California’s state government was amenable to business — on par with the previous two years. “We asked (business people) from all 88 cities, county and state,” Chief Executive Tracy Hernandez told the Business Journal. “Santa Clarita was in the top three last year, too. They pride themselves on being receptive to businesses getting through permitting.” One major decider, she speculated: “L.A. has business taxes and Santa Clarita doesn’t.” Hernandez said her organization’s statistics are useful to all levels of government. “Our primary targets are the elected officials,” she said. “We go to all five county supervisors, we break out the data where their district compared to the other ones, we use it with our state assemblies and state senators.” Fifth Largest Economy California has surpassed the United Kingdom to reclaim its position as the world’s fifth largest economy, according to federal data. To contextualize, only the entire United States, China, Japan and Germany surpass California’s economic output. California’s gross domestic product rose by $127 billion year-over-year in 2017 to surpass $2.7 trillion, while the United Kingdom’s economic output shrunk, in part because of exchange rates. Real estate and financial services led the growth surge in California at $26 billion, according to California Department of Finance Chief Economist Irena Asmundson. Other top growth industries included the information sector, with tech companies posting $20 billion in productivity, and manufacturing with $10 billion. California State University – Channel Islands Economic Professor Sung Won Sohn believes people are enduring high taxes and cumbersome regulations to partake in California’s entrepreneurial spirit. “In Southern California,” Sohn told the Business Journal, “there are a lot of biotech and life-science companies, in addition to semi-conductor-related firms such as Qualcomm. … The Inland Empire (has) relatively less expensive real estate. A lot of transportation and warehousing, including Amazon.com, have flocked to the region in order to take advantage of locations close to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.” This is the first time California has ranked fifth since 2002. Post-Great Recession, the state dipped to 10th place. Straight Outta Calabasas As documented by reality television, the gated communities of Calabasas are no stranger to celebrities. Kanye West and the Kardashians, Justin Bieber, even “The Hangover” comic relief Ken Jeong all reside in the affluent 91302 and 91372 ZIP codes. Now another pop icon has moved to town: rap’s first billionaire, Andre Young. Better known as Dr. Dre, founding member of pioneer gangsta rap group NWA and the producer behind multi-platinum albums for rappers Snoop Dogg, Eminem, 50 Cent and Kendrick Lamar, Young, who had previously purchased a $40 million Brentwood compound from Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen in 2014, has dropped $4.9 million on an epic 9,400-square-foot Mediterranean-style residence in the Valley. According to Los Angeles Times, Marc and Sara Shevin of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties listed the real estate while James Cavanah of BrokerInTrust represented Young, who purchased the property through a trust. Built in 1997, the 6-bedroom, 5.75-bathroom residence, which sits on 3 acres, comes with amenities including a recording studio, recreational room with arcade games, home theater, pool, spa and tennis court. Staff Reporter Michael Aushenker can be reached at (818) 316-3123 or [email protected].
