Thursday, March 7, 2013

SGV well positioned for success

Pasadena Star News
By: Cynthia Kurtz
Posted 3/6/2013 

It’s close to what counts the number one reason the San Gabriel Valley is the place for business. Successful businesses need to be close to customers, markets, materials, and employees. When you are in the SGV you are close to it all. 

Need to get to Orange County? Jump on the I-605 or SR-57. Headed to the IE? You’ve got the I-210, the I-10 and the SR-60 to choose from. Got a meeting in downtown Los Angeles? Twenty minutes and you can be there. In all, seven major freeways traverse the region. The light rail lines that will eventually connect all the Foothill cities and run along the SR-60 are only going to make connecting better.

What if you are importing materials from New Zealand or China? Selling your products in St. Petersburg or Italy? Not a problem. The nation’s two busiest container ports are close at hand with both truck and rail options for shipping.

Your CEO has a trip to the east coast each week? No need to go all the way to LAX. Ontario and Bob Hope Airports are just minutes away. If your company owns its own airplane, then El Monte Airport is your home base.

The SGV has every neighborhood from blue collar to executive so employees at every income level have affordable and attractive housing options.

No matter where you locate in the SGV, you will be close to institutions of higher education. I am not talking about any old schools. SGV schools are prestigious. No other region can brag about “bookends” like Caltech - the number one university in the world two years in a row - and the Claremont Colleges. No doubt about it, the SGV is “400 square miles of talent.”

All of the SGV’s prestigious schools - Mt. San Antonio (SAC), Citrus College, Cal Poly Pomona, University of La Verne, Rio Hondo College, Azusa Pacific University, Pasadena City College, Mt. Sierra College, Western University of Health Sciences, Caltech, and  Keck Graduate University, - provide a skilled workforce and a steady supply of opportunities for research and product development. 

The SGV is also a good deal for businesses. Lower commercial lease rates help the bottom line. There is room to expand. All in all, locating in the SGV will “make your CFO happy.”

There are very few other places that can top the location, talent and cost effectiveness of the San Gabriel Valley for business. Help spread the word. Let your professional contacts know that the SGV is open for business.

Note: Thank you for all the comments on the recent column about the penny. While a few readers just couldn’t imagine getting rid of the penny, the vast majority were ready to make the change. The best idea comes from my friend Victoria at The Ratkovich Company. Since the penny costs 2.4 cents to make and the nickel costs almost 10 cents to make, Victoria asked, “why not make the penny worth 5 cents and get rid of the nickel thereby solving two problems at the same time?” Victoria, thank you. I wish I had thought of that!

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