IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
The Inland Empire was a busy place during the last 12 months, as the industrial market sped on and housing market struggled to regain its footing. The labor disputes at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach could spill over into 2015
The opening of a massive fulfillment center in Moreno Valley by Amazon.com, the ongoing battle regarding local control of Ontario International Airport and labor strife in several crucial economic sectors were among the Inland Empire’s major business stories in 2014.
Overall, the Inland region’s economy performed well during the past 12 months: unemployment dropped, housing prices went up and the industrial market performed spectacularly, outpacing all of the region’s other economic sectors.
By the end of November, the region had added more than 30,000 non-farm jobs and during 2014 had an unemployment rate of eight, down significantly from the 9.3 percent jobless rate recorded in November 2013, according to the California Employment Development Department.
Also by the end of 2014, about 30 million square feet of industrial space will have been added in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, according to several brokers familiar with the market.
One reason for that performance – and the rise in the region’s employment – was the August opening of Amazon.com’s 1.2-million-square-foot fulfillment center in Moreno Valley, which shipped its first package that month to a customer in the Bay Area.
The facility near March Air Reserve Base is believed to employ about 1,000 people, although the Seattle-based retail giant declined to release an exact job count. The warehouse is similar in size and scope to Amazon’s San Bernardino operation, which covers one million square feet and employs about 1,400 people.
The fight between Ontario and Los Angeles regarding control of Ontario International Airport raged during 2014, with no resolution being reached. The dispute took its latest turn early this month, when Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said he will meet with Ontario officials in January to discuss the matter.
The airport has been owned by Los Angeles for several decades, and Ontario is trying to get control of the facility, which it regards as crucial to the Inland region’s economic growth.
Since the recession began, passenger traffic at the airport has dropped to mid-1980 levels, although business did improve somewhat this year. Inland officials believe Los Angeles World Airports has neglected Ontario International while favoring its other major airport, Los Angeles International Airport.
The Inland Empire also saw its share of labor strife during 2014, as members of the California Nurses Association, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union and Warehouse Worker United all walked off the job this year within the two-county region.
Nurses at Arrowhead Medical Center in Colton staged a two-day strike earlier this month regarding wages and working conditions, then returned to the job without having settled any of their grievances.
In May, warehouse workers at Schneider Logistics in Eastvale agreed to a $21 million settlement regarding wages and working hours. The payments, which covered unpaid wages and some penalties, was to be paid to workers who were employed at the Eastvale facility between 2001 and 2013.
At the same time, union workers at Vons, Ralphs and Albertsons ratified a two-year agreement that placed a moratorium on any increases in healthcare costs, provided protections against cuts in pension benefits and raised wages. That action avoided a long strike like the 141-day walkout that staged by grocery store workers in 2003.
Probably the biggest labor story of 2014 didn’t happen in the Inland Empire, although plenty of people in the region – especially in logistics – watched the situation closely.
Three trucking companies that haul goods to and from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach voted to strike but returned to work in November, after Mayor Garcetti helped broker a truce.
In a separate dispute, members of International Longshore and Warehouse Union agreed to work without a contract after their agreement with the Pacific Maritime Association, the company that operates the ports, expired in May. Months later, union members were accused of intentionally causing a slowdown at the ports during the time when holiday goods are shipped into the country.
The dispute did not disrupt deliveries into Riverside and San Bernardino counties, but several officials in the Inland logistics industry said they were concerned about what trouble a full-blown strike might cause. As the year came to a close, the union continued to negotiate a contract on behalf of 20,000 of its members on the west coast.
While things were rocky at two of the largest ports in the United States, the Inland Empire housing market improve but still continued to struggle.
Sales were down nearly 10 percent during November in the two-county region – not an unusual drop late in the year – but prices of single-family homes continued to rise as the Inland Empire moved from a buyer’s market back to one that favors sellers.
A sign of that transition happened in November, when the first homes at New Model Colony in Ontario went on sale.
The master-planned community in the southern part of the city is being developed by the Lewis Group of Cos. in Upland and the Irvine-based Stratham Communities. The first homes for sale, in the Park Place section of the development, cover 382 acres.
At build out, New Model Colony will cover 13 square miles and will include approximately 30,000 single-family homes.
