Culver City has picked up one of the region’s top honors for small-business support, earning the title of Most Business-Friendly Small City at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation’s 2026 Eddy Awards. The ceremony, held November 4 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, recognized cities, organizations, and leaders across LA County for strengthening the local economy — and this year, Culver City stood out among the county’s smaller cities for how directly it works with the businesses inside its borders.
Vice Mayor Bubba Fish accepted the award on the city’s behalf, crediting city staff, business owners, workers, and residents for the recognition. He pointed to Culver City’s size as an advantage rather than a limitation: with a compact footprint, city staff can know local business owners by name and work through problems one-on-one instead of routing them through layers of bureaucracy. City Manager Odis Jones echoed that theme, framing economic development less as a slogan and more as the day-to-day work of making it easier for businesses to invest, hire, and grow in the city.
That hands-on approach reportedly includes a business ombudsperson who helps owners navigate permitting and city processes, permit reimbursement programs that ease the upfront cost of opening or expanding, and technical assistance aimed at small and independent businesses specifically. The city has also leaned into placemaking — the kind of streetscape and public-space investment that makes a commercial corridor more inviting to shoppers and diners, not just easier to operate in on paper.
For a city best known for its entertainment studios and growing tech presence, the Eddy Award is a reminder that Culver City’s economic identity runs wider than its marquee employers. Independent retailers, restaurants, and service businesses make up a large share of its commercial base, and the city’s pitch is that the same support systems built for larger employers are also available to them.
The award also highlights something LA-area business owners outside Culver City can take note of: cities that actively reduce friction — through ombudsperson services, reimbursement programs, or simple responsiveness — tend to get flagged by regional economic groups as places worth investing in. It’s a useful data point for any small business owner weighing where to open their next location.
Source: Culver City Observer
Are you a local business owner? Add your business listing on Los Angeles Business Web today.