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The City of Gardena, an “All-America City” is a small, highly urbanized community of 5.9 square miles (15 km2) within the South Bay Basin of Los Angeles County, 13 miles (21 km) from Downtown Los Angeles.
Gardena, California is a city of 62,000 inhabitants. Nearly 40% of adults age 25 and older have four years or more of college, including men and women with a wide variety of job capabilities, from entry level to the specialized technical, supervisory and management level.
The purpose of the Gardena Office of Economic Development is to attract new business, and to stimulate job creation by providing services to businesses and industries relocating to or expanding within the City of Gardena.
Gardena Office of Economic Development, (OED) located in Gardena, CA, is focused on promoting economic development within the City.
Together with the Gardena Employment and Training Center staff, the City has established a long-term business outreach program specifically designed to identify attraction and expansion possibilities.
The City of Gardena and Office of Economic Development offers a variety of programs targeted toward becoming environmentally conscious, including commercial programs through the South Bay Energy Savings Center (SBESC) to learn how SBESC can help businesses go green; a Southern California Edison (SCE) program that will help make equipment and operational changes that can lower the monthly electric bill for businesses; an Express Efficiency Program that will help businesses apply for rebates on the purchase and installation of qualifying equipment to improve energy efficiency; a Standard Performance Contract for large businesses offering financial incentives to offset the capital cost of installing new high efficiency equipment or systems, as well as offering training workshops.
The City of Gardena and Office of Economic Development has, in conjunction with the EPA, created an innovative “Brownfield Program”. This program identifies potentially contaminated properties within the City of Gardena having the greatest potential for revitalization and redevelopment. Prior to 2009, the EPA awarded the City of Gardena $750,000 in Brownfield Environmental Assessment funds to be used for Environmental Site Assessments (ESA’s). Through this resourceful land recovery program, the City of Gardena discovered over seventy two Brownfield sites, created nearly 300 construction and clean jobs and leveraged $14 million in clean up funds in partnership with private investments. In October 2009, the EPA awarded to the City of Gardena an additional $400,000 environmental assessment grant. Clean up and reinvestment in these Brownfields properties protects the environment, reduces blight and creates new jobs for Gardena.
The Rosecrans Revitalization Program is an ongoing program that was implemented by the City of Gardena in 1999. The Rosecrans Corridor is a prime commercial area and the City has embarked on a comprehensive revitalization to create a commercial environment. The goal of the Rosecrans Corridor program is to stimulate development projects and to make a significant contribution to the overall economic revitalization of the City of Gardena.
Gardena is home to over 175 manufacturing businesses offering services and support to the aerospace industry, and is the hub of numerous companies in the metalworking and machinery, food processing and furniture industries. Some of the City’s largest employers include; HITCO Carbon Composites (2010 “Gardena Outstanding Business Award” winner), Chromalloy Corporation, Crenshaw Lumber Company, Southwest Offset Printing, several national retail credit companies and many others.