• Home
• Site Map

The Centennial Promise

Creating Jobs and Economic Vitality in an Affordable Self-contained Community

The Centennial vision is to create a vibrant self-contained sustainable community where people can live, work and play – a community with a jobs/housing balance that creates its own economic vitality, allowing residents to find work within its borders or a short distance away at Tejon Industrial Complex.

Centennial residents will enjoy affordable housing, schools, medical facilities, fire and sheriff stations, emergency services, shops, professional offices, recreational amenities, entertainment venues, and importantly the opportunity for jobs.

Employment opportunities within the community will encompass every income level from teenage summer jobs to senior executive positions. There will be opportunities for teachers, firefighters, retail and restaurant workers, construction workers, doctors, attorneys, information technology experts, scientists and spectrum of other jobs.

Jobs and Housing Balance

In order to create a self-contained sustainable new town, and to create jobs, Centennial will aggressively pursue a strategy to attract businesses and commercial development.

Centennial aspires to provide 1.3 jobs per household, approximately 30,000 in all, over its 20-year development period. Achieving this jobs/housing ratio will reduce traffic on regional arterials, cut down on greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality, preserve the environment and enhance the quality of life for its residents.

Opportunities for all Skill Levels

To assist in its business-attraction efforts, Centennial retained the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) to identify, analyze and recommend the best business prospects for Centennial based on growth rate, industry size, average wages and total job creation currently being achieved in Los Angeles and Kern counties.

LAEDC identified professional, scientific and technical services as the most attractive industry sectors for Centennial. These high wage earners are more likely to be drawn to the quality of life available in Centennial.

The LAEDC pinpointed construction as the second strongest sector. Centennial itself will create 29,455 construction jobs during its build-out. As Centennial’s population grows, so will the need for food services, retail outlets, and business-serving outlets.

Health care and educational services are logical job generators as they will be used by all Centennial residents from young families through retired baby boomers. A primary goal of the community is to attract a large post-secondary educational institution and/or a medical facility that will create many jobs and also serve to attract other businesses.

Finally, Centennial is ideal for the relatively new area of business-to-business electronic markets, such as outsourcing centers, that use technology to serve clients from distant locations.

Economic Vitality

With an availability of its reasonably priced land and affordable housing, Centennial will be a draw for manufacturers who want to control their own facilities, have room to expand, and have access to a reliable, educated workforce. Green technology is a rapidly growing new manufacturing sector, and LAEDC believes these types of firms will have great interest in locating to Centennial.

According to a study by Stanley R. Hoffman Associates, Centennial’s ability to attract business will help it become an economic engine for the region. Every job created will have a multiplier effect, creating continuing demand for goods and services, in turn producing some 68,060 jobs for Centennial and other local communities. More than 6,000 people ultimately will be employed at nearby Tejon Industrial Complex (TIC) and many are expected to select Centennial as their hometown. More than 1,000 people already work at TIC for major employers such as IKEA and Famous Footwear.

The Hoffman study reveals that, based on the property, business and sales taxes it will generate, Centennial will be able to more than cover the cost of its public services. In fact, it is expected to produce $65.08 million in tax revenue, with a surplus of $12.47 million for Los Angeles County.

Centennial will be a model for a 21st century new town in the United States, a sustainable green community with exceptional public amenities where working families can affordably live, work and play.

Click here to see plans for Community Design.