Time to develop a business attraction program.

Bruce Ackerman, President and CEO of the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, is very proud of his organization's Valley of the Stars branding campaign.

He should be.

According to the Alliance's website: "In 1997, the Economic Alliance created the Valley of the Stars name and logo, developing a regional brand campaign for wider exposure for the San Fernando Valley. This has resulted in several major Valley-wide and regional events, co-branded with the Economic Alliance: The Valley of the Stars Fair, Valley of the Stars Heart Run & Walk, and the Valley of the Stars Memorial Day Parade."

Granted, the Valley of the Stars branding campaign has begun to create a sense of oneness and pride in who we are. It plays a role in diverse activities designed to support business already in the Valley, it provides an umbrella for the Alliance's programs to retain business we have, and it helps bring a sense of connection between our businesses and our communities.

That's the good news.

Here's the bad news: It doesn't--and isn't designed to - bring us new business. And we need to start doing that.

We need to sit up and take notice when the lack of housing gives pause to potential employers researching a location that their employees can afford; when our infrastructure can't accommodate growth, let alone the businesses we have; and when our city and state lawmakers have a reputation (deserved or not) for being business-unfriendly.

The exodus of companies such as the Los Angeles Times and Washington Mutual has a significant ripple effect on the area's overall economy. The unheralded relocation of smaller organizations to adjacent municipalities, to other California cities, and even to other states that woo them, such as Nevada, Arizona and Texas, all negatively impact our economy. (Not that Nevada's nutty 'peanut' economic development campaign would make me reach for the phone and call.)

Negative Images

Sadly, we have allowed others to define us: Valley girls, strip malls, post-World War II suburban housing tracts, porn capital of the world, culturally deprived, and much worse. The Valley is also branded with the negatives laid on our entire region: smog, traffic congestion, racial strife, too few police and too many crooks ... in short, not a place to move your business.

Part of the problem is that the Valley does have a good story to tell, we just haven't told it. The weather, availability of an educated workforce, an environment of entrepreneurialism, cultural and ethnic diversity, and other attributes of the area would be attractive to many a company ... if only our story were told to them in a compelling fashion.

It's time for us to begin competing in the marketplace of business attraction. We need to create a real strategy and program for business attraction and then implement it. How do we go about it?

Enlist the involvement of key organizations and individuals in the San Fernando Valley who realize the importance of attracting new business to our Valley and are able to research, plan and bring a real economic development program to fruition.

Research why companies that are here chose to establish themselves in the Valley, and determine why they stay here.

Create the "case," an inventory of reasons to relocate to the Valley, including a determination of which types of industries are most likely to thrive in the area ... those are the ones to focus on first.

Review the "best practices" of other cities and regions in economic development, including an examination of how they have positioned themselves in the marketplace, what materials they create, the activities they implement, and what resources they have.

Council involvement

And it's not inappropriate to ask our Valley City Council members what they have been doing to attract business. After all, more jobs mean more taxes, which allows for more city services, which is what constituents love ... and then they vote for those elected officials who provide those services.

We have community service awards, Fernando Awards, Z Awards, chamber of commerce awards ... why don't we have awards for achievement in bringing business to the Valley?

So, why don't all those award-winning Valley leaders and Valley elected officials get together and begin to create a strategy to bring us more business? Leaders of the Economic Alliance clearly recognize the need for a strong business attraction program, and have begun discussing it.

A successful business attraction program will be a great shot in the arm for the Valley's economy and the rest of our business community.

Then we will be able to be proud of a branding campaign in which we can call ourselves: "Valley of the Business Stars."

"The trouble in American life today, in business as well as in sports, is that too many people are afraid of competition."

Knute Rockne Notre Dame Football Coach

Martin Cooper is Chairman of Cooper Beavers, Inc., marketing and communications. He is Immediate Past Chairman of VICA and Past President of the Public Relations Society of America-Los Angeles Chapter and the Encino Chamber of Commerce. He can be reached at [e-mail].