ECONOMIC ROUNDTABLE ANNIVERSARY 2015REPORT 15 IncorporatedYEAR December ’99 SoCalLeadingEdge.org REGIONAL BUSINESS/ INDUSTRIAL PARKS LANCASTER Fox Field Industrial Corridor North Valley Industrial Center Lancaster Business Park Enterprise Business Park Southern Amargosa Industrial Centerpoint Business Park The BLVD Antelope Valley Medical Main Street PALMDALE Challenger Business Park Fairway Business Park Freeway Business Center Palmdale Power Plant Industrial Park Palmdale Trade & Commerce Center Park One Industrial Park Sierra Business Park Sierra Gateway Park CALIFORNIA CITY Airport Business Park MOJAVE Mojave Air & Space Port RIDGECREST Ridgecrest Business Park Ridgecrest Industrial Park INYOKERN Inyokern Airport Industrial District TEHACHAPI Goodrick Business Park Capital Hills Business Park Bailey Avenue Industrial Park ECONOMIC ROUNDTABLE REPORT 2015 | 1 GREATER ANTELOPE VALLEY ECONOMIC ALLIANCE MEMBERS Officers Directors Norm Hickling County of Los Angeles Harvey Holloway Aaron Chang Supervisor Antonovich Coldwell Banker Commercial Palmdale Regional Medical Valley Realty Center Paulette Rush Chairman of Board MidAmerican Solar Carrie Rogers Chuck Hoey Los Angeles Economic Rob Duchow Charles Hoey and Associates Development Corp. The Gas Company Vice-Chair Cheri Bryant Steve Perez Tom Barnes Antelope Valley Press Rosamond Community Antelope Valley-East Kern Services District Water Agency Chris Perez Vice-Chair Wells Fargo Bank Steve Radford Antelope Valley Union High June Burcham David James School District Kaiser Permanente City of Tehachapi Treasurer Teresa Hitchcock Dixie Eliopulos Kern County Laurel Shockley Honorary Member Southern California Edison Tom Weil Secretary Ed Knudson City of California City Antelope Valley College George B. Atkinson Vern Lawson Atkinson and Associates Garth Sandsness City of Lancaster Director, at Large Rio Tinto Kari Blackburn City of Palmdale Air Force Flight Test Center Kern County Antelope Valley College Lockheed Martin Antelope Valley Press Los Angeles EDC Antelope Valley Transit Authority Mid American Solar Antelope Valley Union High School District Northrop Grumman Atkinson and Associates Palmdale Regional Medical Center AV Air Quality Management District Palmdale School District Antelope Valley East Kern Water Agency Palmdale Water District City of California City Rio Tinto Minerals City of Lancaster Rosamond Community Services District City of Palmdale Southern California Edison City of Tehachapi The Gas Company Charles Hoey and Associates VINSA Insurance Associates Coldwell Banker Commercial Valley Realty Wal-Mart County of Los Angeles, 5th District Wells Fargo Bank Supervisor Mike Antonovich Western Pacific Roofing Kaiser Permanente To become an investor member, please visit our website www.SoCalLeadingEdge.org or call us at 661/945-2741 Table of Contents Introduction ■ INTRODUCTION The Greater Antelope Valley Welcome to Antelope Valley ................ 1 A vast land of opportunity lies just an hour outside of Los Angeles. Known as Southern ■ DEMOGRAPHICS California’s Leading Edge, this group of high desert communities has been famed for Area Profile ............................................. 2 its aerospace prowess for nearly 70 years. Supersonic travel, the Space Shuttle, and Population Detail ................................... 3 advanced stealth technology were all born here. NASA astronauts train here and now Comparisons/Housing .......................... 4 commercial space flight is being pioneered here. But today, we’re also showing the world that we have the right stuff when it comes to developing advanced materials, Communities .................................... 5-12 building clean transport systems, crafting high-precision parts, generating fresh, green Dare to Compare .................................. 13 energy while adding value to innovative agricultural products. ■ ECONOMY With easy access to key transport corridors, good rail service, and three of America’s Employment By Industry..................... 14 top seaports within a seventy-mile radius, it’s no surprise that we’ve found favor with many distribution and logistics firms. Global traders enjoy the tax and tariff advantages International Trade/ of our Foreign Trade Zone. We also think you’ll find our air quality district, separate and Cost of Doing Business ..................... 15 distinct from LA’s stringent South Coast AQMD, to be refreshing. Foreign Trade Zone .............................. 15 Small Business Support ...................... 16 Yes, we are a world apart from LA, yet we’re close at hand. The Leading Edge puts 21 million Southern Californian’s at your doorstep, the Western U.S. within a day’s drive Workforce .............................................. 17 and new Pacific Rim opportunities ready to explore. Renewable Energy ................................ 18 Motion Pictures .........................................19 Our enterprising group of business-savvy cities also understands how to help Water ....................................................20, 21 companies succeed. They’ve cut red tape and work to fast-track projects so you can get Agriculture ..................................................21 going quicker, with less worry and lower cost. As a matter of fact, our business facilities cost about 65% less than those found in Los Angeles or San Francisco. Labor costs are Mining .........................................................22 also lower, yet our workforce is highly trained, very motivated and anxious to work for local firms. ■ EDUCATION STEM Education ..............................23-25 The Greater Antelope Valley Economic Alliance, or simply The Alliance, is the public/ Public/Private Schools ....................... 25 private partnership that facilitates business growth and opportunity within our 3000 square-mile region. We serve as allies to enterprise, helping you chart the best course Community Colleges/ towards finding success and new prosperity here. Universities ................................... 26, 27 Our investors and sponsors make it possible for us to produce this Report every year ■ INDUSTRY and we are grateful for the continued support and partnership we have with the business leaders and community members that value the work we do. Thank you for Aerospace ....................................... 28, 29 being a part of our efforts to retain, expand and attract primary jobs for our workforce Business Parks/Industrial Space .....30, 31 and our families that make the high-desert home. Public Transportation/Aviation ..... 32, 33 Take time to discover the amazing opportunities found along Southern California’s ■ HOUSING Leading Edge. Housing Market ..............................34-36 Visit our new website at SoCalLeadingEdge.org Harvey Holloway ■ HEALTH CARE GAVEA Chairman Hospitals/Health Services ............ 37, 38 Broker/Owner, Coldwell Banker Commercial Valley Realty ■ QUALITY OF LIFE Entertainment & Facilities ............39-41 Kimberly Maevers, President 1028 West Avenue L-12, Suite#101 Michelle Verjan, Executive Assistant Lancaster, CA 93534. Latasha McClelland, Program Specialist 661/945-2741 • FAX: 661/945-7711 www.SoCalLeadingEdge.org ECONOMIC ROUNDTABLE REPORT 2015 | 1 AREA PROFILE Economic Picture Brightens For Antelope Valley By Christopher Thornberg, PhD There is little doubt that is has been a rough to do with an increased use of automation TOTAL POPULATION OF few years for the 400,000 people who call and information technology, rather than lack GREATER ANTELOPE the Antelope Valley home. As bad as the of competitiveness. More importantly, many VALLEY REGION ‘Great Recession’ was for the nation and of the high tech firms in the area, particularly 530,179 California, it was worse in this region. The those in aerospace, are on the cutting edge of new space and military technologies. While ANNUAL GROWTH disproportionate impact was due largely to 2020 Projected 564,057 the structure of the local employment base. these companies may not be directly hiring 2015 Estimate 530,179 Logistics, construction, and manufacturing many new people, their indirect impact on the 2014 Estimate 520,690 are three of the most important clusters in local economy should not be underestimated. 2010 Census 496,828 the area, and all three sectors were hit hard Non-residential construction permits in the by the economic downturn. Of the three, only Antelope Valley for 2014 are on track to be POPULATION BY ORIGIN the logistics sector has recovered to its pre- by far the best since 2008 — largely driven by Not Hispanic or Latino 296,781 recession level of employment. these firms investing in the area. Hispanic or Latino 233,398 POPULATION BY RACE On top of this, there were few communities Also important has been the end of the White 286,085 affected as much as the Antelope Valley by housing collapse. Foreclosures have dwindled Black/African American 75,686 the subprime mortgage crisis and the wave to below-normal levels even as prices have American Indian/Alaskan Native 5,361 of foreclosures and collapsing home prices been rising at a double digit pace. This has Asian 19,633 that followed. Taxable sales in the area fell helped the financial situation for many local Native Hawaiian by a whopping 30% through the housing homeowners. And taxable sales in the region or Pacific Islander 1,291 cycle. And the region has been dealing with — while still below pre-recession levels Other 112,929 headwinds caused by the drought, and — have started to grow at close to a 9% year-