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Business Overview
The economy of Los Angeles is based on many pillars. The city being the largest manufacturing center of United States, has many drivers of its economy like international trade, entertainment, aerospace, technology, fashion, tourism and petroleum. The economy is also driven by business and professional management services, finance and telecommunications.

The largest industry of Los Angeles is film production as the famous center of film production, Hollywood, is located in here. This industry focuses worldwide attention on the city therefore, making it a major tourist destination as well. While banking and finance industry in Los Angeles is also one of the largest in United States. More than 100 foreign and countless domestic banks operate branches in the city along with many financial law firms and investment banks.

Possessing one of the busiest and largest ports of US and one of the busiest international airport of world, the city is a famous commercial and trade hub with roughly half of its commerce coming from other nations. The adjoining ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach together comprise the most significant port in North America and are vital to trade within the Pacific Rim.

The city headquarters some of the renowned companies of the world like Twentieth Century Fox, Gibson, Guess, Janofsky & Walker LLP, The Jim Henson Company, Paramount Pictures, Fox Sports Net, 21st Century Insurance, & Tea Leaf. It is also home to three major Fortunes 500 companies of US including Northrop Grumman, Occidental Petroleum Corporation and KB Home. Further, virtually all the world's auto makers have design or tech centers in the LA region.

The main commercial area of the city, Downtown Los Angeles is home to the Los Angeles Convention Center, which hosts many popular events including the annual LA Auto Show and Sources LA. The city also organizes many fashion, textile and apparel exhibitions every year at its well-equipped business centers including LA Mart and California Mart Exhibit Center.

Major Business Centers
Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC):
As one of the most technologically advanced, architecturally pleasing and functionally superb venues in the world, Los Angeles Convention Center is one of the key contributors to the economic and cultural vitality of Los Angeles.

This Award winning center comprises of 720,000 sq. ft of exhibition space, 64 meeting rooms, 3 large food courts, full-service business center and on-site parking for 5,600 vehicles including electrical charge stations.

Located at South Figueroa Street, LACC is also a premiere location for filming commercials, movies and still-model shoots.

Major Commercial Areas
Downtown Los Angeles:
While geographically not exactly in the center of the city, but Downtown Los Angels is indeed the major center of activity of LA. Besides the main focus is on business, downtown also feature many shops, restaurants, bars and even a few museums.

The district contains many commercial center spots of the city like:

The Financial District:
Built adjacent to and parallel with the redevelopment of Bunker Hill, Financial District is the center point of Downtown Los Angeles. Upscale corporate office skyscrapers, hotels and related services as well as banks, law firms, and real estate companies largely dominate the area.

The District is served by Metro Rail Red Line and Blue Line, with 7th Metro Center as the primary station.

The Fashion District:
The Financial District is the hub of apparel industry on the West Coast of United States. It can be recognized as a design, a warehouse or a distribution nexus of clothing and fabric industry.

Besides having many reputable alleys, the district also features Santee Alley, stretching from Olympic Boulevard to Pico Boulevard. This alley is infamous for being home to variety of faux designer goods, ripped DVDs and other stolen or bootleg items.

Fashion District is also home to California Market Center which houses offices of many of aspiring clothing designers, sellers and buyers, as well as the Otis College of Art and Design's School of Fashion Design.

Major Manufacturing Zones
Canoga Park (All America City):
Located in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, Canoga Park district is a major employer and hub of numerous aerospace companies including North American Aviation, Hughes Aircraft (now Boeing), Atomic International and Teledyne. It also has various small machine shops and other ancillary businesses to service the aerospace industry.

Initially, the area was rural and agricultural and its industry was small farms involved in production of fruits, vegetables, some livestock and movie/television studio and stunt location work. With the coming of Rocketdyne, then a spin-off of North American Aviation in 1955, the area became hub for the aviation industry.

However, much of western section of Canoga Park has been renamed West Hills and a portion of eastern section has been renamed Winnetka. Most of the area is now suburban communities with small industrial areas, however some of the area is still rural but film production, stunt and feed businesses still exist.