Key Business Groups May Share a Headquarters

After years of being scattered about, the Valley’s key business organizations could find themselves under the same roof as early as the spring.

Escrow closed last week on a $3.1-million Sherman Oaks office building that would become the new headquarters for the Valley Economic Development Center and the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley. The two organizations are buying the building in partnership with developer Rickey Gelb.

In addition, the San Fernando Valley Conference and Visitors Bureau and the Valley International Trade Assn. will relocate with the Alliance to the new quarters at 5121 Van Nuys Blvd.

The hope is that the building eventually will become home to the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn., and the United Chambers of Commerce of the San Fernando Valley, two of the region’s largest and most prestigious business support groups.

If backers can pull it off, the center would provide one-stop shopping for businesses seeking assistance on a variety of matters and would also mark the first time the groups have shared a common roof.

“We’re looking at this incredible, never-before coming together of most of our strategic partners into one location and that’s very exciting,” said Bruce Ackerman, president of the Alliance, an economic development collaborative whose board of directors is made up of representatives of eight local business groups.

“A majority of our board has voted and they’re pleased with the idea and are delighted to go.”

Not only would the move facilitate joint planning and some cost savings, it would make life easier for the business leaders who serve on more than one board and now must schlep from the West Valley to the East Valley to attend back-to-back meetings.

“Think of the conservation of time, of not being on the road,” said Cathy Maguire, who is chairwoman of VICA, vice chairwoman of the Alliance and serves on the advisory board for the chamber group.

“That I’m particularly excited about.”

The boards of VICA and the UCC have yet to vote on the matter, but leaders of both groups backed the plan.

With tenant improvements and other moving-related concerns, the business groups are not expected to hang out their shingles until mid-March or later.

Gelb, general partner with Encino-based Gelb Enterprises and winner of last year’s Fernando Award for community service, said his goal in helping to fund the purchase was increased efficiency.

“I’ve been in the Valley for 50 years,” said Gelb, who felt so strongly about the project that he loaned the VEDC $200,000 to help cover its share of the $600,000 down payment.

“I’d like to see the Valley keep prospering. My goal is to have all of the [organizations] under one roof so we can get things through the system.

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“All of these organizations are trying to do the same thing,” added Gelb, who plans to locate his family’s Rickey and Robbi Charitable Foundation in the building.

“If we tried to do it all together, we could do it better.”

The building, which once housed state offices, was sold by Long Beach-based Conger Enterprises for nearly a million less than its original asking price.

Technically, it was purchased by a newly created limited liability corporation--the Valley Corporate Community Center LLC--which is owned by Gelb Enterprises, the Alliance and the VEDC.

Several business leaders said the space-sharing arrangement is an offshoot of the business collaboration that began after the 1994 Northridge earthquake. It was that same collaboration that lead to the formation of the Alliance.

“I think what the Economic Alliance has achieved, is that it has given us the opportunity to work together,” said J. Richard Leyner, chairman of the UCC, the chamber umbrella group, and a key backer of the plan. He is also a senior vice president of NAI Capital Commercial, the company that represented the buyers.

“We all existed before, but we existed on our own turf.”

Conger was represented by Beitler Commercial Realty Services.

Under the current arrangement, the VEDC would take the entire top floor of the three-story building, using about half of the available space.

The Alliance, which is rapidly outgrowing its leased space in a Van Nuys building owned by the estate of the late entertainer Steve Allen, would take up to 4,000 square feet.

That would leave enough space for VICA, as well as for UCC and other business-related groups, to set up shop.

The UCC, with only one full-time staffer and a part-time intern, currently leases a small office from Gelb on Ventura Boulevard in Encino and would have minimal space needs in the new center.

Backers envision several common areas, including a shared conference room and kitchen and perhaps a central reception area with one person or group responsible for maintaining a master calendar of the various meetings and events planned by the business groups.

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The move marks a big step forward for the VEDC, which in 1999 was facing a mounting debt load and a shrinking staff.

Today, said VEDC President Roberto Barragan, the staff has grown from 25 to about 35 workers in the main office. In addition, the agency, which gets government grants to aid small business development, is seeing expansion of several of its main programs. He said his group intends to repay Gelb’s $200,000 loan over the next three years with money raised from contributions.

Leyner said his board members have yet to vote on whether to join the collaborative, but he added, “being chairman, I can’t visualize why they wouldn’t want to do it.”

Officials with several of the groups said they did not think the business roommates would step on each other’s toes.

“Before the earthquake, we were not used to working together,” said Maguire, who called the move a “natural next step.”

“What we learned over the years is that everyone has their particular niche. We’re not in competition for the services we provide.”

The mission of the VEDC, the business leaders said, is to aid small business development, while VICA handles lobbying and the chamber group serves a marketing/networking function and acts as a sounding board for individual businesses.

Maguire said she would wait to receive more details before taking the matter to her board. But like Leyner, she said she saw much more “pro” than “con.”

“I think this is the most exciting thing that potentially can happen for all of the organizations,” said Maguire.

“I just don’t see a down side.”

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Valley@Work runs each Tuesday. Karen Robinson-Jacobs can be reached at Karen.Robinson@latimes.com.