LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

The days when chicken ranches and orange groves blanketed the San Fernando Valley are long gone. Now major defense contractors, aerospace firms, national headquarters for scores of companies and thousands of small businesses cover the region.

No longer just a bedroom community for Los Angeles, the Valley region is a growing center of business whose contribution to the gross national product would be larger than that of many states. In recognition of that growth, the Valley Edition has decided to give greater coverage and prominence to the business news that helps shape the Valley.

Today and every Tuesday, our new Valley Business Section will report on the people and companies that are vital to the local economy.

Profiles of Valley-area businesses and their leaders, charts on the performance of Valley-based publicly traded companies and a new column on residential real estate in the Valley are among the many features in the new section.

Let Valley Business Editor Barry Stavro or me know what you think of it.

BOB RAWITCH

Executive Editor, Valley Edition