Nectar approach puts the Bee back in business

Ice Energy’s decision to set up a 25,000-square-foot distribution facility in Glendale, with more jobs to match, highlights a possible “nectar approach” to attracting new industry to the San Fernando Road corridor — especially as the city reassess its ability to bring in new business without the power of its now-defunct redevelopment agency.

While Ice Energy’s executive vice president Mike Hopkins said Glendale is “kind of like the center of the map for us here in California,” we wonder if another “center” could have been found if not for the $3.2 million the city’s utility has spent on the firm’s energy-saving air-conditioning units so far.

The “Ice Bears,” which reduce air-conditioning energy demand by as much as 95%, will no doubt start propagating in more and more commercial business buildings, for which energy use remains a huge cost. And from Glendale they will spread as Ice Energy takes on the Southland market, potentially creating dozens more jobs locally and helping to revitalize the city’s San Fernando Road industrial corridor.

And all of it done not with redevelopment perks, but with the sweet nectar of a guaranteed market and convenient location. Promotional pamphlet anyone?