West Hollywood was awarded the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation’s 2021 Most Business-Friendly City Award at the 26th annual Eddy Awards on Nov. 10.

The city was a finalist among five cities with a population under 60,000 people to be named a finalist. The other cities were Culver City, El Segundo, Rosemead and Vernon.

The Most Business-Friendly City Award recognizes demonstrated outstanding contributions to economic development in the region in business, education and government throughout the county. This year’s awards recognize cities that prioritized creating the most supportive environment for business recovery, reinvention, growth and hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In March 2020, the city of West Hollywood approved a declaration of local emergency in response to the emerging COVID-19 pandemic and it began implementing a series of immediate programmatic responses to address community needs and to provide regular updates to the community. Early in the pandemic, the city approved residential and commercial eviction moratoria to protect renters and tenants, and the city regularly extended the moratoria and aligned with state and county policies.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the city took several efforts to support businesses and workers, instituting a small business grant, creating a temporary outdoor expansion program and hosting a COVID-19 webinar series to provide health, safety and mediation information.

West Hollywood also received a certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting and an award of financial reporting achievement from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada.

The city’s Annual Financial Report is a set of detailed financial statements accompanied by a presentation on the city’s financial condition. The city is required to publish an easily readable and efficiently organized annual financial report. The certificate of achievement is the highest form of recognition in governmental accounting and financial reporting.