They say that when you are surrounded by alligators, it can be hard to remember that you were there to drain the swamp. Thus it was strange to listen to the city fathers of Ontario advising people to “Invert Today-Invest Tomorrow” in their community

It would not be fair to say that many people were in denial about the downside of the 2008 economy, still there was a significant amount of “whistling past the graveyard.”

Much of this has to do with the positive aspects of Ontario's infrastructure. First and foremost has to be the LA/Ontario International Airport. It was described as the driving force of investment and economic activity in our area. Other connecting elements were also on the short list of good news. The Pacific Gateway Cargo Center has not yet broken ground, but it calls for 1 million square feet of warehouse space and should be starting up somewhere in 2009.

Office space at the airport will include the 800,000-square-foot Ontario Airport Towers, featuring premier Class A office space on 28 acres between Turner and Archibald Avenue adjacent to ONT.

The Prologis Park Ontario Airport will be a 100-acre industrial site also adjacent to ONT with seven freestanding industrial buildings.

Ground is also about to break on The Historic Guasti District, which will be a 50-acre mixed-use project just north of the airport and south of Interstate 10 just off of Archibald. This project will feature much of the historical buildings, along with restaurants, entertainment, offices, residential units and hotels.

“Mixed-use” is also the theme of the Piemonte development at the old Chevron Center site, just west of the Ontario Mills Mall. A large retail portion is already up and running with the new Target, PetSmart and Best Buy stores. Along with that are apartments running east from Haven Avenue. This leads to further retail at the giant Mathis Brothers complex just west of Milliken.

Needless to say, the crown jewel of all of this development will be the Citizens Business Bank Arena. The minor league Ontario Reign hockey team will begin their season this fall as the premier event at this new venue. A Lakers-Sonics game is scheduled for shortly after that.  Since the arena is run by the same company that runs the Staples Center in L.A., it is presumed that any number of concerts and shows that appear there will also come out here.

That is the good news. The bad news is that the dark cloud of recession hung over the evening. NAIOP, the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties conducted a pre-show panel discussion on ways to survive the current downturn. This is where a lot of that whistling that I mentioned earlier was heard. Yes, they agreed that a “constipation of capital” was causing problems. Personal bankruptcy and lack of consumer confidence were elements to be sure, but so was corporate debt and competition from overseas. Even the media’s need to sell bad news was blamed.

Still, India and China were seen as good developments for the Southern California shipping and logistics industries. The deep-water port of Long Beach will need what we have to offer out here. The cheap land, of which we have heard about for so long, is another positive element, as is cheap square footage for both warehousing and office space. Times may be hard, but the Ontario marketplace was presented as being in a strong competitive position for the days ahead.

Little was said of politics, state or federal legislation, or prohibitions. There was a comment that the best way to bust through the next year and a half will be if the regulators got out of the way. Details were not forthcoming.

After the panel session, the big sound and light show began. This has been a signature of Ontario's State of the City event for several years now. With the usual sound and light show, Mayor Paul Leon appeared on stage to welcome everyone and encourage them to invest in Ontario. He reminded us that many of the projects that were presented as renderings last year, had moved forward and were now under construction.

A booming megawatt HD audio video show followed with the city council and several developers speaking out about the positive mood in the air. This part of the evening closed with a big preview of the new arena.

Following that was the traditional buffet and chat fest. It was to the credit of Bob Brown and his people at the Ontario Convention Center that they turned the lights up this year. According to Ontario’s Economic Development Director, Mary Jane Olhasso, the biggest complaint that was received in the past years was the haunted house atmosphere of the mixer room.

Missing this year were the little conference centers where people interested in the airport or Piemonte or downtown could congregate to gather info. Instead things were wide open and conversations happened spontaneously.

Also missing were the overseas investors. In past years it was not uncommon to run into a capital group from Singapore. This year the attendees seem to be mostly Ontario people. To be fair, many were new to town, having been transferred from corporate to set up shop here. New executives from new companies were much in evidence. Turner, who is constructing the arena; Panattoni, who are building the Piemonte project; Brookfield Homes, who are still building and selling residential developments; and OliverMcMillian of the Guasti District were all part of the evening assembly.

Other smaller, or at least less known support companies were also there to be counted in.  It should be noted that other cities around the Inland Empire have adopted the video screen presentation for their State of the City lunches, but the theme of most remains “Crime is down-Business is up.” Ultimately, Mayor Leon would appear to be right when he calls his city, and it’s airport, the machine that drives the Inland Empire.

If momentum can help Ontario survive the next 18 to 24 months, then the city could well come out of things as the undisputed capital of the Inland Empire.

Just watch out for those alligators.