Business-Friendly Cities

San Gabriel Valley cities have molded themselves to foster prosperity.

Most Business-Friendly Cities

Awarded by the Los Angeles Economic Development Corportation (LAEDC). Winners & Finalists are drawn from all 88 cities in Los Angeles County, 2008-2018.

Winners

• Azusa (2018)
  
• Arcadia (2017)
  
• Glendora (2014)
  
• Duarte (2012)
  
• Monrovia (Small City, 2011)
  
• West Covina (Large City, 2011)
  
• Alhambra (2010)
  

Finalists

• Arcadia
  
• Alhambra
  
• Azusa
  
• Baldwin Park
  
• Duarte
  
• Glendora
  
• Monrovia
  
• Rosemead
  
• Pasadena
  
• San Gabriel
  
• West Covina
  

For Example... 

City of Industry

As the very name of the city proclaims, the City of Industry was designed as a cradle of economic productivity. Curling along the southern foothills and the 60 freeway, Industry houses over 3,000 businesses and 67,000 jobs... but the 2010 census listed only 219 residents!

Incorporated in 1957, the City of Industry intentionally designed its tax system to encourage businesses - and as a result, it has become one of the major economic engines of the San Gabriel Valley.

In 2012, Industry had the highest business revenues of the entire valley - $27.1 billion. If combined with the valley’s second most revenue-generating city, Pasadena ($14.1 billion), the two cities account for 42% of all revenue in the San Gabriel Valley.

Irwindale

Irwindale is known as a center of construction, trucking, and blue-collar industries - its gravel pits and resevoirs spring to most people’s minds. Yet the city is also home to an ultra-modern Kaiser Permanente outpatient facility, and boasts iconic employers such as Pasbt Brewing (in the former MillerCoors plant), Huy Fong Foods (makers of Sriracha hot sauce), and Charter Communications.

54% of Irwindale’s businesses have fewer than 5 employees, demonstrating how small business is the heart of the San Gabriel Valley. Yet the city’s top 2 employers boast more employees than the city’s total population of 1,463: 2,528 employees at Southern California Edison and 1,900 at Ready Pac Foods!