The Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corp. recently held its keynote annual event, the Economic Outlook, which provides analysis from economist Mark Schniepp on the local, state, U.S. and global forecast.
The SCV EDC is a public-private partnership funded primarily through city and county investment, led by local business leaders looking to further growth and development of the SCV’s workforce.
In addition to the look ahead from Schniepp of the California Economic Forecast, this year also included a panel discussion with local executives, including Robert Shen, the president of Remo; David Rendall of Re/Max; John Prabhu, cofounder of LA North Studios; Marcie Washburn of Nycote Labs; and moderator Nate Patena, CEO of DrinkPAK.
“This year’s Economic Outlook was about more than numbers on a page. It was about our community in action,” Ondré Seltzer, president and CEO of the SCV Economic Development Corp., wrote in an email Tuesday. “From an insightful business panel sharing real-world perspectives to upcoming trends and market indicators from Dr. Schniepp, the conference brought together business leaders, policymakers and community stakeholders to explore the opportunities ahead. Marking SCVEDC’s 15th anniversary, it underscored both the resilience of the Santa Clarita Valley economy and the strategic investments that must continue to be made to drive growth.”
Calvin Hedman, co-chair of the EDC’s board of directors and managing partner for his CPA firm, Hedman Partners, said he left the event feeling cautiously optimistic about the future. Prior to the event, he’d been hearing concern about the uncertainty surrounding tariffs, which tends to make business owners pull back on investment.
He said the tariff talk was an interesting part of the panel discussion, which was the star of the event for him.
“The five companies gave a little bit of history and a little bit of information about their business, and I think that’s what the audience likes to hear,” Hedman said. “How and why did their businesses pick Santa Clarita, and how has this market been favorable for their company and what impact the community has been on their business.”
He gave the example of Prabhu, who operates soundstages in the film industry, which has seen a series of challenges locally since the pandemic. Hedman said Prabhu’s business model had to “pivot on a dime” during lulls in filming, which allowed him to find resiliency in the warehouse and storage space.
In Seltzer’s statement, he described his organization’s role in the community as turning “these insights into action, ensuring our businesses have the talent, infrastructure and support they need to thrive in SCV.”