Project Will Add 200 Jobs in Pacoima

Construction of a large industrial park in Pacoima will more add more than 200 jobs within the community’s “enterprise zone,” a state-designated area for urban renewal, officials announced Monday.

The $5.8-million project, the biggest in the area, will more than double the jobs in the 3-year-old zone. The project will turn 8 acres off Osborne Street near Whiteman Airport, an area plagued with illegal dumping, into a light-industrial complex with five buildings, said Anne Dunne, manager of the Pacoima Enterprise Zone.

Pacoima is one of 13 California communities selected in 1986 by the state Department of Commerce to participate in the enterprise zone program, designed to revitalize depressed areas by offering incentives, such as tax breaks and low-interest loans.

The 6.7-square-mile Pacoima zone includes parts of Van Nuys Boulevard, San Fernando Road and Foothill Boulevard.

The 123,000-square-foot center will likely house such industries as plastics firms or electrical-equipment manufacturers and some offices, said Rodney L. Gleicher, president of G&G; Properties of Van Nuys, the project’s development firm.

Although the firm did not apply for government loans to build the project, Gleicher said state-offered incentives make it attractive for his potential tenants to lease the buildings.

The incentives include an employer wage-tax credit for salaries paid to people working within the zone who are considered economically disadvantaged under government rules. Also, firms can deduct the sales taxes paid on new machinery purchased to operate their businesses in the zone.

“If not for these incentives, we probably would not have done the project because it would be difficult to find tenants,” Gleicher said.

Since February, 1986, about a dozen new industrial firms in the enterprise zone have created about 200 jobs. In addition, more than $5.6 million in low-interest government loans have been awarded to other businesses in the zone.

Developers of two additional projects have requested about $4.5 million in government loans, Dunn said. Their applications are under review by the city.