Santa Clarita-based SOS Entertainment has been named the 38th Assembly District’s Business of the Year, Assemblyman Dante Acosta (R-Santa Clarita) announced Wednesday.

“I want to recognize Ed Masterson and SOS Entertainment for all they do for the 38th Assembly District,” Acosta said in a statement. “Not only are they extremely professional, but their commitment to community service encourages them to constantly look for ways to give back.”

In association with the California Small Business Association, California’s 80 Assembly members and 40 Senators each choose the top business in their respective district.

Dante Acosta

“SOS Entertainment is an excellent example of a business that is truly a community partner,” Acosta said.

“In the last five years, SOS Entertainment has donated more than $1 million in money or services to the communities surrounding their office locations in Santa Clarita, San Jose and San Diego,” he said. “Their mission statement is to ‘discover, progress and contribute.’”

Masterson, SOS’s sales and marketing manager, said the Business of the Year honor was “huge,” and gave all credit to the company’s founder-owner Derek Sage, who grew up in Agua Dulce and the SCV and founded SOS Entertainment around 15 years ago.

Ed Masterson

“Derek’s really the guy who makes it happen – I’m just a sales guy,” Masterson told SCV News Wednesday afternoon.

“We deal with all different kinds of categories of clients – schools, corporations, private parties, the city (including summer Concerts in the Park, pictured above), the county, and more, and he’s got a really kind heart when it comes to dealing with our clients,” Masterson said.

“In Santa Clarita, working with nonprofit organizations is a big part of what we do,” Masterson said. “Derek tries to help them out as much as possible. So we end up often cutting our costs to save on expenses, but still capture as much of whatever production value they’re trying to get into their event as possible.

“Sometimes it’s a tricky balance,” Masterson said. “But I think that’s where the whole vibe of the company comes from: Derek’s a very kind, thoughtful and generous guy.”

Represented by Acosta, the 38th Assembly District stretches from Vasquez Rocks in Agua Dulce to the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley and encompasses Santa Clarita, Porter Ranch, Chatsworth, Granada Hills and portions of Northridge.

“I said the honor was huge because there are half a million people living and hundreds of companies doing business in Dante’s district,” Masterson said. “It’s super flattering that we would even be considered, but for him to pick us out of the hundreds of companies he could have chosen – just the numbers alone make it huge.”

Derek Sage of SOS Entertainment DJs an event.