PALMDALE — Palmdale was named as the Most Business Friendly City in Los Angeles County for municipalities with populations greater than 60,000 people, by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation.
The award was presented to city officials during a ceremony, Wednesday night, for the 26th annual Eddy Awards, at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
“Thanks go out to our City Council for their leadership and support,” said City Manager J.J. Murphy, who accepted the award on behalf of the City. “Over the past two years, Council and staff have worked diligently to transform Palmdale into a truly business friendly City. I introduced and Council supported a campaign based around a business-friendly concept called, ‘Find a Way to Yes,’ and the results have been tremendous. The word is out: do business in the City of Palmdale, and we will find a way to ‘Yes.’ ”
This year, the annual Most Business-Friendly Award also recognized cities “that prioritized creating the most supportive environment for business recovery, reinvention, growth and hiring during the pandemic,” according to the LAEDC website.
Palmdale previously won the award in 2015.
“It was truly an honor to stand on that stage with City staff and partners to receive this prestigious award,” District One Councilmember Austin Bishop said. “It’s especially gratifying when you look at the amazing cities who were up for consideration. I congratulate each one for all that they’re doing to help businesses thrive in their communities.”
District Four Councilmember Juan Carrillo said it was a great night for Palmdale.
“Like all cities, Palmdale has had to deal with a lot of impediments due to the challenges of COVID-19,” he said, “but our staff was creative and resourceful and truly found ways to bring in new projects to the community, support projects that were in the middle of construction when the pandemic hit, and most importantly support our local businesses.”
District Two Councilmember Richard Loa expressed how proud the Council was of its strong partnership with Los Angeles County.
“A special thank you to (Fifth District) Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who joined us on stage, and her staff for their continued support to help establish the EIFD (Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District) and on other unique projects that we hope to announce at the beginning of next year,” Loa said.
Murphy also thanked the various business partners and the collaborative efforts with the City of Lancaster, which was also a finalist in the category.
“Many of the ideas that were developed during the pandemic were in collaboration with the elected officials and teams of both the cities of Palmdale and Lancaster,” Murphy said.
Santa Clarita was also a finalist in the category for cities with populations greater than 60,000.
West Hollywood won the Most Business Friendly City Eddy Award in the category for cities with populations less that 60,000 people.
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