Posted by Heidi Schwartz
The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) has announced the 200,000th job saved or attracted in LA County since the inception of its Business Assistance Program 1996. Designed to provide free-of-charge, on-the-ground business assistance, the program has helped thousands of businesses—large and small—to overcome challenges, enabling them to move to, expand and hire in LA County. As the world’s 19th largest economy with a highly diversified economic base, LA County has developed the LAEDC program to “attract, retain and expand businesses and jobs for the regions of Los Angeles County.”
Through a broad-based coalition of chambers of commerce, trade organizations, business associations and government officials, the LAEDC team of economic-development professionals offer confidential, free-of-charge information. This information and assistance is offered to decision-makers and consultants representing both significant large and small, domestic and international businesses in all industry sectors.
The LAEDC reached the milestone by assisting Composites Horizons, a Covina, CA-based aerospace company, which builds high-temperature advanced ceramic and carbon fiber composite products for jet engines. The company’s high technology composite components and assemblies are primarily used for high temperature engine or nacelle applications in the aerospace industry.
“We needed to do a third major expansion, and with each expansion we always weigh either moving out or staying here (in LA County) and adding another building,” stated company CEO Jeff Hynes. “We had a number of hurdles to overcome, with approvals and permits, and trying to do all of this with such a tight deadline to begin production. But the LAEDC brought the city manager and the head of the building permit department to our company and also got me an audience with the city council and mayor. We bought the new building in November 2013 and started production in April of 2014.”
And, the expansion is paying off. Hynes says he’s planning to hire more workers.
“We’ll be adding 50 more this year and we’ll be at 500 employees by about 2018,” he said.
Speaking about this historic milestone, L.A. County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, an early champion of LAEDC when the County created it in 1981, noted, “I am very pleased by the progress that LAEDC has brought to our county by the retention and expansion of 200,000 jobs. It’s very important we have these public-private partnerships that will bring vitality and jobs, opportunity and growth to the County of Los Angeles, benefiting not only the County but the entire region.”
