While most other regions of Los Angeles County are running on all cylinders, with record employment and lots of new development, South Los Angeles is still struggling to get its share of economic growth.

To that end, a group of businessmen is launching a new economic development partnership for the area. The question is whether they can shake off the distressed inner-city image and inspire enough confidence to attract investment.

“There is a deficiency in marketing this community,” said Clyde Oden, chief executive and president of Watts Health Systems Inc. and founder of the partnership. “All people hear and see are the negative images on the nightly news. We want to create a different paradigm that draws attention to the economic assets of this area. There hasn’t been a voice so far that has spoken for these assets, particularly not from the private sector.”

The partnership will try to create awareness for the economic potential in South Los Angeles through a series of community meetings, business conferences and other networking activities, said Executive Director Dean Jones. While Watts Health Systems will be the primary sponsor of partnership operations, Jones expects approximately 200 local businesses to join the organization once it starts operating in early May, and members will also help fund the group.

South Los Angeles is roughly bordered by the Santa Monica (10) Freeway, Artesia and Crenshaw boulevards and Alameda Street.

In setting up the partnership, Oden is borrowing strategies used in similar efforts in the San Gabriel Valley and South Bay, where businesspeople have also been working to create awareness of the assets already in place.

“The most important thing is to change people’s perception of what’s in the area,” said Joe Aro, executive director of the South Bay Economic Development Partnership. “Knowledge about what’s in the community creates that dynamic atmosphere that propels everything else forward and this also creates the political will to make the bigger changes.”

Hidden resources

Ignorance about opportunities available in South Los Angeles not only limits the kinds of businesses that consider moving there but also causes local residents to look for jobs outside the community.

For example, a number of high-tech companies already are located in the area but want to keep a low profile for security reasons, said Jones.

“When I graduated from college, I couldn’t find a job in South Los Angeles because I didn’t know where they were,” said Jones. “But I was aware of GTE and Rockwell and Blue Cross of California, which were all outside of South Los Angeles and the kinds of businesses someone with a bachelor’s degree would be drawn to. Had I known that there is, for example, the Academy Apparel Co. down the street, and that I could have started my career in accounting there, I would have done so.”

A study authored by Thomas Tseng, research director with the Community Development Technologies Center, points to a large industrial base, among other things, as an economic asset of South L.A. As of March 1999, there were 2,775 manufacturing businesses in the region, employing 84,157 people, according to the study.

However, the growth of these firms is often hampered by a lack of space to expand. As a result, many manufacturers are forced to leave for new industrial parks in places like Riverside County.

Tseng sees the absence of new industrial development as a key problem that can be impacted by the partnership.

“There is an absence of class-A industrial space in the area because developers don’t realize the potential of building new industrial parks in South Los Angeles,” said Tseng. “Part of the problem is the lack of large parcels of land, and there are always environmental issues with redeveloping existing structures. But, by marketing the area, the partnership can highlight specific opportunities when there is a parcel of land for sale.”

Seeking partners

Aside from space issues, the partnership expects to get involved in access to capital for local businesses. Although the climate has been changing, many firms still feel they have a harder time than businesses elsewhere getting bank loans.

“Some people still think of this as a community to be exploited rather than partnered with,” said Joseph Loeb, president of Break Away Technologies Inc. “It’s been getting better, but it is still difficult for businesses here to get a loan from a major bank.”

Oden believes, however, that as more success stories come out of South Los Angeles, more capital will start flowing in.

“We need to show people it is safe to invest in South L.A.,” said Oden. “Not in terms of law and order, but from a hard and cold business point of view.”

Oden and Jones also want to create partnerships between businesses and local schools and community colleges to create more awareness about job skills sought by employers.

“Workforce development is a long-term endeavor,” said Tseng. “There is a mismatch between the skills that students are taught in the public school system and the skills that industry is looking for. To create awareness of this on a regional level is, at the very least, an important first step.”