Culver City has been named the 2026 Most Business-Friendly City in the small-city category by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, receiving the honor at the LAEDC’s annual Eddy Awards held November 4 at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, according to a report from the Culver City Observer.
The award recognizes the city’s work supporting local businesses, attracting investment and expanding economic opportunity in a jurisdiction of roughly 40,000 residents that nonetheless hosts major entertainment studios, technology companies, independent retailers and one of the region’s most concentrated creative economies. Vice Mayor Bubba Fish accepted the award on behalf of the city.
“Culver City is a small city, and that is our strength. We know our businesses by name, we pick up the phone, and we work side by side with them to create solutions,” Fish said. “Together, we have created an environment where businesses can invest with confidence and find the support they need to succeed.”
The city has advanced several initiatives the LAEDC highlighted: business ombudsperson services that give companies a single point of contact for navigating approvals, permit reimbursement programs, technical assistance for small businesses, and placemaking investments downtown. City Manager Odis Jones said economic development is about more than attracting businesses — it is about creating an environment that encourages long-term investment and supports job creation.
The recognition lands in the middle of a construction boom that is reshaping the city’s built environment. Work began this month on a major mixed-use project at 11111 Jefferson Boulevard in Culver City, bringing new apartments and public parks to a long-underused corner near the border with Los Angeles, while Lincoln Property Company and McCourt Partners broke ground on their ElevenOneEleven development after landing $133 million in construction financing for the Culver City mixed-use project in October. The city’s two Metro E Line stations continue to drive transit-oriented development pressure that few small cities in the county face.
But the business-friendly label is also being tested by the same growth. Neighboring Los Angeles Councilwoman Traci Park has pushed to halt the region’s bus-lane project along corridors that run toward Culver City over traffic and density fears, a sign of the friction that rapid investment generates across the Westside. Culver City itself has balanced studio and tech expansion against resident concerns over traffic and the city’s own fiscal dependence on its large employers.
The Eddy Awards celebrate excellence in economic development across Los Angeles County, recognizing cities, organizations and leaders whose work contributes to a stronger regional economy. This year’s field in the small-city category included West Hollywood, which announced it had been named a finalist while congratulating Culver City on taking the prize.
For Culver City’s business community — from the major studios that anchor its employment base to the independent restaurants that give downtown its foot traffic — the award is a marketing asset in the competition for tenants and talent. As the city’s economic development department put it in its statement, the recognition reflects a commitment to building on the momentum through continued business engagement, investment in the creative economy and responsive city services that support a thriving local economy.
