Labor Force
Employment in the San Fernando Valley has changed dramatically in the past century, evolving from cattle raising to agriculture to manufacturing to today’s high-tech businesses. To examine these changes is really a look at how the Valley developed its identity.
The Valley is the equivalent of “a fully functional metropolitan area,” said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. “It has an economic base, plus a university, community colleges and airports. It produces goods and services that are shipped out of the Valley. It’s certainly not a bedroom community.”
And with a new biomedical park planned at Cal State Northridge, the Valley and its labor market continue to evolve.
On this day before Labor Day, here’s a historical look at employment in the Valley
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Early 20th Century (1900-1940)
Raising cattle for the hide and tallow trades was big business at the beginning of the 20th century. But once water became readily available with the opening of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, agriculture took over.
One could find field crops such as alfalfa and beans in the central and West Valley, citrus in the north and northeast, olives in the area north of San Fernando and deciduous fruit and walnut trees throughout the Valley. Poultry and dairy farming were popular in the West Valley. Processing plants shipped local crops across the country.
By the 1920s, Burbank--home of Lockheed--was deep into manufacturing. And the movie industry had discovered the V alley with its variety of scenery and proximity to Hollywood was a great place for location shoots.
Warner Bros., Universal and Mack Sennett studios were among the early filmmakers to set up camp in the Valley.
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Wartime/Postwar Transition (1940-1965)
World War II brought about the transformation of the Valley from a sleepy agricultural area to a manufacturing powerhouse. The Van Nuys and Burbank airports were centers of defense aviation and thus a network of small manufac turing companies cropped up to provide essential materials such as rivets and electrical components.Following the war, many plants expanded into civilian aircraft and aerospace markets.
The Valley’s concentration of trained assembly workers attracted Anheuser-Busch andautomobile manufacturers such as General Motors. And with the Valley’s booming population, there were lots of workers--and jobs--to go around.
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Information Age (1965-present)
The era of computers and telecommunication has brought even more changes to the Valley as the defense electronics industry spawned the growing computer market. The emerging space program tapped the skills of defense aviation workers, who then produced components for rockets.
The popularity of television also had an impact as East Coast networks expanded their production to the southeast Valley. As a result, small companies in the Valley serving the motion picture and television industries grew rapidly.
In the aftermath of defense downsizing, many employers, such as Lockheed, left the Valley in favor of cheaper labor and land in other parts of the country. Some manufacturers, like General Motors, also left for similar reasons.
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Modern Trends
* Entertainment and information are providing the foundation for new growth in the Valley.
* Declining defense spending is transforming manufacturing.
* Growth in the hotel and restaurant business has not kept pace with regional growth.
* Entertainment, including motion pictures, television, theme parks and related services, is now the largest employer selling products outside the Valley.
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Highlights in Valley Labor
1842: Gold discovered in Newhall, but the excitement is short-lived and people returned to agricultural activities.
1862: A path wide enough for horses and wagons is cut into the mountains between the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys.
1876: Golden Spike driven near Saugus, signaling the completion of a Los Angeles-to-San Francisco train route. This allowed grain and other goods to be easily shipped to the East.
1912: The first of more than 2,000 films is shot at Iverson Movie Location Ranch in Chatsworth, opening the door for what would become the Valley’s booming entertainment industry.
1913: Los Angeles Aqueduct opens north of Sylmar, ushering in the Valley’s annexation by the city of Los Angeles three years later.
1915: Universal Studios begins making films on its movie lot.
1928: Lockheed opens in Burbank, the same year Van Nuys Airport opens.
1928: Warner Bros. buys First National Pictures lot in Burbank. In Studio City, Mack Sennett Studios, now home to CBS Studio Center, opens.
1930: Burbank Airport begins operation.
1940: Walt Disney Studios moves from Silver Lake area to Burbank.
1947: General Motors plant in Van Nuys begins production. At its peak in 1979, it employed 5,100 people. A total of 2,700 workers were laid off when the plant closed in 1992.
1952: NBC relocates television studios from Hollywood to Burbank.
1953: TransWorld Bank founded in Pacoima; bought out by Glendale Federal Bank in 1997.
1954: Anheuser-Busch Brewery, home of Busch Gardens from 1966 to 1979, opens in Van Nuys.
1955: Rocketdyne and Atomics International divisions of Rockwell International open in Canoga Park.
1956: The Valley’s only four-year college, San Fernando Valley State College (now Cal State Northridge) opens its doors. Current enrollment is about 27,000.
1960: Litton Systems opens plant in Woodland Hills, then another in Van Nuys in 1964; Universal Studios Hollywood opens.
1964: Topanga Plaza, the first enclosed air-conditioned mall west of the Mississippi, opens in Canoga Park.
1970: Sunkist relocates headquarters from downtown Los Angeles to Sherman Oaks.
1977: Blue Cross of Southern California moves its headquarters from Los Angeles to Woodland Hills.
1993: Universal CityWalk becomes the Valley’s newest tourist attraction.
1994: After 28 years in the Valley, Hughes Aircraft Co. shuts down its missile engineering operations in Canoga Park when it moves to Tucson.
1996: Price Pfister announces it is shifting much of its production to Mexicali, Mexico; 500 workers lose their jobs.
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Evolution of Industry in the Valley
1940-1965
* Motion Picture Production:
1965-1990: Theme Parks; Motion Pictures; Television
1990-2015: Theme Parks/Tourism; Visual Media Production; Professional Services; Multimedia Technology
* Aviation Electronics
1965-1990: Computer Peripherals; Defense Instruments
1990-2015: Multimedia Technology; Engineering Services; Technology-Based Manufacturing
* Defense Aviation
1965-1990: Defense Aerospace; Commerical Aviation
1990-2015: Engineering Services; Technology-Based Manufacturing
* Defense Aviation / Automobile Manufacturing
1965-1990: Metal Products
1990-2015: Technology-Based Manufacturing
* Food Processing
1965-1990: General Manufacturing
1990-2015: General Manufacturing
* Agriculture 1965-1990: General Manufacturing
1990-2015: General Manufacturing
* Information Processing
1965-1990: Information Processing
1990-2015: Business Services
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*Sources: “The Changing Landscape of the San Fernando Valley Between 1930 and 1964,” by Rich ard E. Preston, published in “The California Geographer,” 1965; “Partnerships for Progress: An Economic Strategy for the San Fernando Valley,” prepared for the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, The Center for Economic Competitiveness and SRI International in collaboration with Economics Research Associates; “The San Fernando Valley Then and Now” by Charles A. Bearchell and Larry D. Fried.
Researched by STEPHANIE STASSEL/Los Angeles Times
