Blogs of the LA Area Chamber

December marked a milestone in Los Angeles’ homelessness efforts when City and civic leaders gathered to break ground on the first Proposition HHH housing project for the homeless.  Approved in November 2016 by more than 76 percent of Angelenos, HHH authorized $1.2 billion over 10 years to construct 10,000 units of permanent supportive housing in the City of L.A.

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Fourteen million … that’s the number of American jobs that are dependent on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Over the past two days, senior trade representatives of Canada, Mexico and the United States launched the 6th round of NAFTA negotiations in Montreal.  Concurrently, 25 representatives of chambers of commerce from across the three countries gathered in Montreal for the “Metro Cities for a Renewed NAFTA” summit.

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This past week, Gov. Brown released his 2018-19 budget, the last for his administration.  Education was a priority, and it should be. California needs to produce 2.5 million more graduates over the next 10 years with degrees and credentials that our growing businesses need. The Governor's budget proposal makes clear that investments in California’s future workforce are paramount to driving the state’s economic growth and prosperity.

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Five years ago, I wrote a Business Perspective entitled “A Trash Proposal That Stinks,” warning that a vote the L.A. City Council was about to take to implement a complete overhaul of the waste haul system for commercial and multi-family facilities would have many negative consequences and be very expensive for businesses. The business community argued that the City could achieve all its waste reduction and recycling goals through a non-exclusive franchise system, developing a set of standards that all haulers would need to meet in order to operate in L.A.

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A special message from President and CEO Gary Toebben on working with members toward the Chamber's 2018 priorities.

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