The “Glens” have it.

Glendale was named the most business-friendly large city in the county Thursday night by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., while Glendora took the honors for the most business-friendly small city.

The awards, handed out at the LAEDC’s 19th annual gala at the Beverly Hilton, are designed to foster friendly competition among local cities to be the most attractive to business. Winners must make economic development a priority, facilitate business entry and expansion, maintain competitive tax rates and fees and bring economic incentives to the table.

“The city of Glendale believes that every department and every employee is in the economic development business,” said LAEDC Chief Executive Bill Allen. “Through this culture the city has fostered a low cost of doing business and excellent customer service, a 24-hour callback policy, streamlined permitting, and satisfaction surveys to ensure businesses agree that their needs are being met.”

Glendale beat out four other finalists in the large cities category: Bellflower, Lakewood, Palmdale and Santa Clarita. The category includes cities with more than 65,000 residents.

As for Glendora, which won among cities with fewer than 65,000 people, Allen said it “keeps costs low for businesses, cuts red tape, and its successful business assistance program rewards startups and existing businesses for job creation.” He added, “The city’s economic development staff visits hundreds of businesses to help them access city programs and workshops and inform them of available space to grow.”

The four other small city finalists were: Artesia, El Segundo, Pico Rivera and Vernon.

Last year’s winners were Lancaster in the large city category and La Mirada for small cities.

In addition to the business-friendly city awards, the LAEDC honored Anthony Pritzker, managing partner of private equity and venture capital firm Pritzker Group’s Los Angeles office, UCLA and American Honda Motor Co. for their contributions to the local economy.