The Business Perspective

Last Friday, the State Employment Development Department issued its employment numbers for March. The good news is that employment increased once again in California and Los Angeles County. The bad news is that California still has 84,300 fewer jobs than it had at the start of the Great Recession, and L.A. County has 75,200 fewer jobs, almost 90 percent of the State total.  

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A job is like a fire, providing energy, light, heat and sustenance to the life of the person who holds the flame. It illuminates the vision ahead to see a brighter future of caring for oneself and our families. Last week, the Los Angeles region received the promise of many more lights with The Boeing Co.’s announcement that it would soon be moving 1,000 high paying skilled engineering jobs to our communities.

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Last Thursday morning, former President Bill Clinton was at L.A. City Hall with Mayor Eric Garcetti to discuss strategies to finance economic development and to promote job growth, climate mitigation and resiliency through 21st century infrastructure. Clinton was joined by the West Coast Infrastructure Exchange and spent much of his time touting the opportunity to use public-private partnerships to advance infrastructure projects in Los Angeles and California.  

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Last week, in the first step of what will be a long legislative journey, Assembly Bill 1839, which will retain movie and TV production jobs in California, passed its first committee with a unanimous 7-0 vote. We applaud the members of the Assembly Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism, and Internet Media Committee for their vision, but none of us can stop for even one television commercial to rest on this initial victory. 

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Today was a good day for the young people of Los Angeles. At a news conference this morning in support of HIRE-LA's Youth, L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti reaffirmed his commitment to hiring 10,000 young people this summer and brought with him partners in government and business to announce their support. The Chamber has co-sponsored HIRE-LA’s Youth with the mayor’s office for nine years.   

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Yesterday, Miguel Santana, the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) for the City of Los Angeles released his annual report on the financial health of the City. He also included recommendations to the mayor and City Council on the budget deliberations for the 2014-15 year,  which must be concluded by mid-June. Santana titled the report “Staying the Course” because he built on recommendations from his past reports and actions that the mayor and City Council have taken the last five years to address the City's structural budget deficit.  

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Southern California delivered 168 leaders from business, government and nonprofits to the steps of the Capitol today for ACCESS Washington, D.C. 2014. The annual lobbying pilgrimage, sponsored by the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and 12 other business organizations is cutting a wide swath across the halls of government.

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During the 20th Century, the growth of middle class jobs in Los Angeles and Southern California was fueled by oil, manufacturing and construction. Today, all three of these industries are under attack by new regulations and a not-in-my-back-yard mentality, which together are depleting the number of middle class jobs in these sectors.  

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Last Thursday was payoff day for years of work to secure federal funds to supplement local Measure R dollars and ensure the safety of our regional rail service. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Representatives Xavier Becerra and Lucille Roybal-Allard joined Metro officials Thursday morning to celebrate $670 million in federal funding for the new Downtown Regional Connector. 

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The "grand pour" was the center of attention in downtown Los Angeles this past weekend.  The continuous concrete pour of the foundation for the new Wilshire Grand hotel and office tower set a record in the Guinness Book of World Records and attracted thousands of spectators. The 1,100 foot building will be the tallest in Los Angeles and west of the Mississippi when it opens in 2017.  The "grand pour" was the center of attention in downtown Los Angeles this past weekend.  The continuous concrete pour of the foundation for the new Wilshire Grand hotel and office tower set a record in the Guinness Book of World Records and attracted thousands of spectators. The 1,100 foot building will be the tallest in Los Angeles and west of the Mississippi when it opens in 2017.  

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