Growth Spreading to Other Areas of State

The Santa Ana research firm CDB Infotek sees increasing evidence that growth in California is spreading from the hotbeds of Orange County and the Bay Area to less densely populated regions.

Although CDB continues to see fast-paced business growth in the high-tech, professional and financial companies that are prevalent in urban areas, it is also now seeing regions such as the Inland Empire take off with expanding manufacturing and service sectors. New business incorporations in San Bernardino and Riverside counties surged 24% from a year earlier, to 583 in the August-through-October period, the firm found.

But new business formation in Orange County remains strong, CDB said. A total of 1,398 incorporations were registered in the county in the three months ended in October, up 4% from the same period the year before. “Orange County is still cooking along real good,” said CDB researcher John Karevoll.

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Patrice Apodaca covers economic issues for The Times. She can be reached at (714) 966-5979 and at patrice.apodaca@latimes.com.