Blogs of the LA Area Chamber

Every Veterans Day we celebrate those few among us who have done so much for so many. Through bravery and sacrifice of life and health, our men and women in uniform give so much and ask so little in defending our country. On Nov. 11 each year we honor those who have served. Yet after the parades end, the speeches conclude, the picnics are packed up and the bunting is taken down, we all return to our everyday lives, while the real struggle continues for so many that we just exalted.

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Chambers of Commerce across America were often formed to champion major infrastructure improvements. For the L.A. Area Chamber, that project was the Port of Los Angeles 127 years ago. 

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It is a core tenet of every action we take at the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce that the best commodity is a job. A job allows us to stand with pride and be empowered to take care of ourselves, our families and our community. A job teaches young adults important values, and increases our individual and collective human capital.

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The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce is pleased to be a Major Sponsor of the 2015 Southern California State of Reform Health Policy Conference being held on Nov. 6. The event convenes senior health care executives and health policy leaders from across the spectrum of care to dialogue on the most pressing issues facing health care today. This conference relies on a Convening Panel of folks which you will recognize as a diverse set of thought leaders, policy makers and executives from a wide range of California’s health care sector.
 
Chamber members can utilize a 30 percent discount code by registering for the event with the code CHAMBER. The event is held at the JW Marriott at LA Live and is an all day, single day conference.

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Since 2009 the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce has worked in partnership with the United Way of Greater Los Angeles to pioneer a new approach to end chronic and veteran homelessness through the creation of permanent supportive housing. This effort, known as Home for Good, began with visits to other communities that were making progress in meeting this difficult challenge. Taking advantage of their lessons learned, Home for Good was born and in five years we have housed 9,305 chronically homeless and 14,094 homeless veterans. Key components of Home for Good’s success include a Coordinated Entry System and a Funders’ Collaborative that has invested more than $650 million.

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Advertising is essential for growing a business and our economy. More than 6,000 small and large businesses in Los Angeles use outdoor advertising as part of their strategy to market their goods and services. Outdoor advertising also creates thousands of jobs in our region for people who design and create the advertisements and for those who construct and service billboards and signage.

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An Affordable Care Act (ACA) provision that changes the definition of a "small business employer" has garnered bipartisan opposition in Congress and was effectively reversed last week. The Protecting Affordable Coverage for Employees (PACE) Act, stops the ACA from requiring that businesses of 51-100 people enter the small-group insurance market in 2016 and manage the costs of new coverage.

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It was exciting news yesterday that the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations among Pacific Rim nations have resulted in a final agreement. If ratified, this treaty would not only benefit the United States as a whole, but also uniquely and specifically the Los Angeles economy, which serves as the gateway to and from the U.S. for trade with these economies.

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As business leaders know, wellness issues, including the obesity epidemic, are tipping the scales against the bottom line. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 20 states have an adult obesity rate greater than 30 percent, and rates of obesity among children and adolescents aged 2 to 19 have tripled since 1980.

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If you have a small business that offers health insurance, make sure your plan complies with Affordable Care Act (ACA) rules that take effect at the end of the year. If your business offers a grandfathered plan or if your health insurance does not comply with the ACA, then you have until Dec. 1, 2015 to enroll in an ACA compliant plan to ensure your coverage meets the terms of the law on Jan. 1, 2016.

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