Ventura County Business

“Grow your business. Live your life.” So goes the official advice of Ventura County. In terms of economic development, this will serve as the county’s new slogan to entice outside businesses to relocate to a new Ventura County headquarters. The federally funded ad campaign will function across a multitude of mediums, including print, online, tv, radio and, everyone’s favorite, direct mail advertising. What does Ventura County have that say Los Angeles, a locale the campaign hopes to poach companies from, doesn’t have? When competing against a major player in the global economy such as the City of Angels and its surrounding area, it’s not always what you have that helps to set yourself apart, rather what you don’t have. Ventura County lacks the pollution, sprawl and congestion that plagues Los Angeles, yet is close enough in proximity to enjoy many of the same resources. For this reason, the slogan fits aptly, implying yes, this is still Southern California, a hotbed for business, but it is a not Southern California in that it gives you space enough away from the well-documented distractions and inconveniences to actually live your life outside of work. Combined with a highly education resident base/potential work force and relatively lower costs both to open new ventures and live outside of the office as compared to many areas throughout the region, Ventura County could pass as a proverbial business paradise for entrepreneurs and burdened business owners fed up with high tax rates and the traditional LA social gauntlet. The campaign has been funded by the 2009 federal stimulus, contributing 282,000 towards revitalizing a once economic climate that recently reached a high for the past decade in regards to industrial vacancy rate. In addition to reaching out to new businesses outside the Ventura County borders, a secondary objective is to help keep wavering owners considering relocation firmly situated where they are and guarding against any further rise in such alarming statistics. With more businesses, more jobs and more economic activity, Ventura County truly can become the corporate paradise it’s ad campaign envisions.