Small-Business Center to Receive Grant

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday approved a plan that would use federal earthquake-recovery funds to finance a regional small-business assistance center in the Valley.

The program calls for the Valley Economic Development Center to receive a $950,000 grant to run the program for 27 months. It must receive final approval from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The VEDC currently operates neighborhood business assistance centers in Pacoima, Van Nuys and Northridge. The regional center would operate out of those locations but would offer somewhat different services, said John Rooney, president of the VEDC, a consortium of local business groups.

“This is a little different than a traditional business assistance center because this one is regional in scope,” Rooney said. “It will allow us to serve the whole Valley.

“There are a lot of manufacturers in Chatsworth or Canoga Park that the geographical boundaries of the other centers don’t allow us to serve,” he said.

Rooney said he hopes the program would get federal Commerce Department approval in time to open in September.

Like the neighborhood counterparts, the regional center would concentrate on helping small businesses obtain financing and developing strategies for growth. Unlike the existing centers, though, the new program would also focus on helping property owners develop industrial and commercial sites that are currently not being utilized, Rooney said.

“In my district, the business assistance center has helped businesses get loans that banks would not have made on their own,” said City Councilman Richard Alarcon.

“I support what they do. It’s a question of creating jobs or not creating jobs.”