LANCASTER – Local business owners and government officials came together on Friday to discuss prospective business growth and political challenges for the Antelope Valley’s future.
Speakers at the AVBizPro event included (clockwise from top left) Board of Equalization Member George Runner, State Senator Steve Knight, Palmdale Mayor Pro Tem Tom Lackey, and Lancaster Vice Mayor Marvin Crist
Antelope Valley Business Professional NetworkThe AVBizPro event featured clear-sighted discussions from state and local officials to provide Antelope Valley business owners with necessary insight into the 2014 business climate – while also helping to raise money for the nonprofit organization Veterans for America in support of the William J. “Pete” Knight Veterans Home of Lancaster.
Speakers for the event included State Senator Steve Knight, Board of Equalization Member George Runner, Lancaster Vice Mayor Marvin Crist, Palmdale Mayor Pro Tem Tom Lackey, and Norm Hickling, who is Senior Deputy for the Antelope Valley Office of Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich.
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Board of Equalization Member George Runner told members of the luncheon that the State of California has essentially abandoned what help is needed for local governments to attract business.
“We have basically taken away (economic development) tools year after year, and … creating more and more regulations,” Runner said. “So let me say congratulations to those local government folks for doing their best to make sure they grow business in California and their communities.”
As an example, Runner noted the latest headlines about Palo Alto-based Tesla Motors planning a $5 billion ‘Gigafactory’ in the Southwest and California’s failure as a consideration.
“When it comes to real investment in manufacturing, individuals say, hey look, California is just too expensive. Regulations are just too great. The taxes are too high – I’m going somewhere else,” Runner said. “In reality, we’ve created in a sense, a desert for businesses. And we have created this ability to base businesses that are founded here in this state; but when it comes to real economic investment, it’s done somewhere else. It’s a discouraging issue for all of us, because, quite frankly, the answer to California’s economic issues longterm are about creating jobs.”
Runner said his office is working to help businesses succeed by hosting telephone town halls that engage statewide business organizations in a conversation about what is helpful to them.
“Now we focus more on the taxation issues because those are the issues where they intersect with us, but we go broader than that in regards to trying to figure out how we can help businesses be successful,” he said. “One of the things I do is I write every business that takes out a permit in my district in the state of California – and that’s about 3,000 a month.”
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In contrast to the over-regulation of the state, Lancaster Vice Mayor Marvin Crist said that his city knows enough to stand out of the way for businesses to succeed.
“Government stands in the way,” Crist said. “We look for a way to say, yes. We look for a way to make it happen for businesses.”
As an example, Crist said the City Council at its last meeting reduced building permit fees by 25 percent “so they can continue the growth. We don’t want to be in the way.”
Crist also explained that Lancaster’s mandatory solar for new homes is another way the city is looking at economic growth differently.
“It’s about building jobs,” he said. “You’re electric bill will change $150 to $350 depending on your usage. You have an extra $350 to use to buy more cabinets … or different things around your house. You stimulate the economy by freeing up that extra money for you. So that’s what it is about.”
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Palmdale Mayor Pro Tem Tom Lackey emphasized the important role of partnerships between Palmdale and Lancaster when considering the Antelope Valley’s future growth.
“Everyone should be reassured of the fact that the leadership of both cities understands the benefit of combined energy – and this synergy that can be created by working toward that end,” Lackey said.
He also said that a partnership between the two cities is necessary for the economic success of the entire valley – noting the Palmdale Power Plant as one of the “exciting business developments coming our way.”
“We believe we can all look forward to the power plant that’s going to bring very much important energy,” he said. “But one thing that people really don’t understand is that it’s going to pay $20 million toward a reclaimed water interconnect between the two cities, between Palmdale and Lancaster.”
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Norm Hickling, deputy to Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, agreed that the region is poised for a potential economic boom.
Local business owners met in the Grand Ballroom of the University of Antelope Valley in Lancaster on Friday
To this end, he explained how the Palmdale Airport is a necessary economic catalyst for the region.
“The supervisor is still incredibly dedicated to having that operate as a Palmdale Regional Airport for the needs of this valley. for the Victor Valley, for the Kern area, all the way down to Santa Clarita,” Hickling said. “The Supervisor is advocating for local control, and hopefully the City of Palmdale will be able to have that control and be able to manage their own destiny … so it will create jobs, and create more opportunities.”
Also concerned with losing contracts and jobs to out-of-state manufacturers, Hickling said he is working with the L.A. Jobs Defense Council, which is a part of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, to advocate for the region’s aerospace workforce.
“We’re sending out surveys right now to see what kind of regulations are hampering these businesses, why they would think about leaving California,” he said. “We’re going to get that information to our elected officials and hopefully on a joint basis – not Republican, not Democrat, but on a nonpartisan basis, so we can convince folks that we need to keep those jobs right here.”
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As chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Defense and Aerospace, Senator Steve Knight also revealed concerns about the future of the region’s aerospace workforce.
“We might see BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) in 2015, and it probably wouldn’t affect Edwards Airforce Base, but it would affect some bases that are close,” Knight said. “It would affect Ventura, and that would be an issue for us. It would affect some of the bases that are in a 100-mile radius of us. So we are constantly looking at that.”
Knight said it is because of this imminent economic threat to the aerospace industry that “we continue to carry veteran bills that help our veterans and move forward with our policy out here: that veterans do come first.”
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Colonel Chuck Levin, treasurer for Veterans for America, also addressed business owners at the luncheon, speaking on behalf of Major General Marvin Levy, president of the VFA, who was unable to attend the event. Levin told guests how a portion of the event’s proceeds would help the non-profit veterans charity continue to serve local military veterans.
For more information, visit Veterans for America at veteransforamerica.us.
According to Hobson, AVBizPro will continue to provide programs and projects to bring businesses and members of the public together. “We will be working on our next projects at our meeting coming up next week at our Professional Producers Council,” Hobson said. “We have some good ideas for projects to come, but will be going over them with our council.”
For additional information on AVBizPro, along with photos of this event, visit facebook.com/Avbizpro. Video of the event is also available at youtube.com.
