Blogs of the LA Area Chamber

As Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) moves forward on its $5.5 billion Landside Access Modernization Program (LAMP), one of the key components has been to address homelessness at Manchester Square. Manchester Square is the site of the future Consolidated Rental Car Facility and until two years ago, it was home to as many as 420 people experiencing homelessness. Today, the homeless population at Manchester Square has been reduced to approximately 120 people and progress continues to be made.

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Tomorrow the Los Angeles City Council will vote to approve a per square foot impact fee on new commercial, industrial and residential construction in L.A. Labeled an Affordable Housing Linkage Fee (AHLF), this new development fee by city government will be used to fund low-income housing. While the business community strongly supports affordable housing, we're advocated against this proposal because it will make middle-class housing more expensive to build, buy or rent.

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At the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, we know that education is the foundation of upward mobility and essential to developing a high quality workforce for the growing businesses in our region. That’s why we are so excited about the results of the 2017 Social Mobility Index, and the superb rankings of the five California State University campuses in Los Angeles County. 

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Thirty years ago, Los Angeles was a different place. The silos of business, government and the social service sectors were well defined, and so was the power structure. But as author John Naisbitt noted in his 1982 best-selling book Megatrends, community leaders were moving their attention from Hierarchies to Networking.

In 1987, the roots of the Chamber’s Southern California Leadership Network (SCLN) were planted by a small group of community leaders. They had a vision of preparing emerging leaders to cross existing boundaries. In those early years, this movement was led by committed individuals like Dori Pye, Chamber board member Frank Sanchez and one of my predecessors, Ray Remy.

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The tech sector is one of the fastest growing components of Los Angeles’ economy. Global technology companies now headquartered in L.A. include Cornerstone OnDemand, Snap Inc., SpaceX and Tinder, with Snap’s high-profile $24 billion IPO in March 2017 effectively cementing L.A.’s place as a global technology hub.

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Last week, something really important happened at the Los Angeles City Planning Commission (CPC). The Commissioners took a big step towards increasing our ability to build more desperately needed housing along our new transit lines. After five years of planning, we are making real progress.

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In early September, President Trump announced the end of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) if Congress does not act within six months to permanently legalize their status. A lack of action by Congress would impact 800,000 young adults that have DACA status. In California alone, we have more than 230,000 DACA young people. The majority are employed, and almost half are currently in school.

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This Thursday, a joint meeting of the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach Harbor Commissions will consider updates to the Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) that would require companies serving the ports to spend between $7-14 billion. This is the third iteration of a program that began more than a decade ago, when the original CAAP challenged the public and private sector to deliver on an ambitious set of goals to green and grow the ports at the same time. Companies rose to the challenge and developed technologies that have achieved tremendous emission reductions and have made the Ports a global model for green technology.

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Tonight, after a nearly three decade absence, the Dodgers will play host to Game 1 of the World Series. Clayton Kershaw, owner of an MVP and three Cy Young Awards, will take the mound against the Houston Astros, the team with the second-best record in baseball this year. It’s the first match-up of 100+ win teams since 1970. And the Dodger faithful are excited!

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Last month, in response to a transitioning economy in which jobs are becoming more technical and specialized, the Chamber and its partners launched the Center for a Competitive Workforce to assist employers, workforce development organizations and educational institutions in meeting labor market demand.

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