You Can’t Have a Home Game Without a Home Team

by Maria S. Salinas

Here in Los Angeles, about 93% of businesses have fewer than 20 employees. When I talk about the businesses that fuel our economy, those are the businesses I mean: the restaurants, bakeries, flower shops, galleries, studios, and service businesses that line commercial corridors across our region.

For nearly 140 years, the Chamber has worked alongside businesses through periods of growth and change. Today, as Los Angeles prepares to welcome major sporting, cultural, and corporate events, we have a responsibility to ensure that local businesses are part of what comes next.

That is the idea behind the Chamber's recently launched initiative, Rally LA. 

I often put it this way: you can't have a home game without a hometown and a home team.

The world is coming to Los Angeles, but the impact of that attention shouldn't stop at the doors of our largest venues or institutions. Visitors will eat in our restaurants. They'll shop in our neighborhoods. Delegations, businesses, and celebrations will spread throughout the region. Whether the activity is in Downtown Los Angeles, Long Beach, or Inglewood, there should be an opportunity for small businesses in those communities to benefit.

But opportunity doesn't happen automatically.

Small business owners need information early enough to act on it. They need access to resources and relationships. And they need to see themselves as part of a much bigger regional ecosystem.

No single organization can make that happen alone. Not the Chamber. Not the private sector. Not our community partners. It will take all of us working together across neighborhoods and industries to ensure that Los Angeles businesses are ready.

If you own a small business in Downtown LA, I hope you'll consider applying for Rally LA.

We're looking for the businesses that help give downtown its character. The neighborhood restaurant people have been coming to for years, the gallery introducing Angelenos to new artists, the dry cleaner that knows its customers by name, or the studio producing creative work behind the scenes. Rally LA was built with businesses like yours in mind.

Businesses selected for the first cohort will receive funding, support, and opportunities to connect with others who are invested in the future of Los Angeles. Just as importantly, they'll become part of a network of businesses working together to grow and strengthen Downtown LA.

As many small business owners know, the right moment can lead to a whole new chapter for their business. Sometimes it's funding. Sometimes it's visibility. Sometimes it's meeting the person who opens a door you didn't even know existed.

For many businesses, success isn't about one big break. It's about having someone believe in you, invest in you, and help you get to the next level. With Rally LA, that kind of support is possible.

It's about making sure local businesses have the chance to step onto the field and be part of what comes next for Los Angeles.

We believe the years ahead represent one of the greatest opportunities our region has seen in decades. The extraordinary moments ahead should leave something meaningful behind: more customers discovering neighborhood businesses, more entrepreneurs connected to opportunity, and more storefronts positioned not simply to participate, but to grow.

We all love Los Angeles. We all have a stake in its success.

And if this is going to be our home game, let's make sure the hometown and the home team win together.