William Allen, the newly appointed chief executive of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., says he wants to work more closely with the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and other business advocacy groups to make the L.A. area more business-friendly.

Son of the late Steve Allen, the 48-year-old Encino resident was the unanimous pick last week by the economic development organization’s board to succeed the retiring Lee Harrington. He takes over from Harrington on Jan. 16; Harrington will serve as vice chairman until June.

The organization is a major development and economic analysis group for Los Angeles County. It helps retain businesses and provides overall economic development strategy for the county and its 88 cities.

Allen, who followed his father into the television and entertainment business, has been active on the economic development front for nearly a decade, most notably as the first chief executive of the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley.

“While I was running the Economic Alliance, my biggest accomplishment was getting all the business advocacy groups on the same page for the San Fernando Valley, which wasn’t easy to do,” Allen said.

Allen said he wants to bring the same approach to his new post with the countywide economic development organization. He also said he would like to step up the group’s business retention efforts.

As he takes up his new post next month, Allen said he intends to step aside from his daily management duties at two entertainment companies he and his family have run for years: Meadowlane Productions and Meadowlane Music.

Harrington, who left Southern California Gas Co. in 1995 to take the chief executive post, said he had informed the organization’s board in mid-2004 that he wanted to retire within two years.