Passport to Los Angeles
From the days the Santa Fe Railroad opened Southern California to the Midwest and East Coast by connecting Chicago with Los Angeles, through the silver screen glamour years of Hollywood’s golden era, and up through our latest role as a global center for entertainment, culture and restaurants, Los Angeles has a long and proud history […]
Wizards to Make Some Tourism Magic in Los Angeles
Millions of Muggles will be coming to Los Angeles to visit Hogwarts and they won’t need to take a special train from platform nine and three-quarters for wizards only. Warner Bros. Entertainment and Universal Parks and Resorts announced today a partnership that will bring The Wizarding World of Harry Potter to Universal Studios Hollywood and […]
Let’s Build Bridges Across California
With 38 million people and the eighth largest economy in the world, California has the resources to achieve great things for its citizens. But we don’t always use those collective resources to our advantage. Besides the obvious political differences between Republicans and Democrats in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., we allow long standing geographic differences to […]
Public Pension Tsunami Demands Action Now!
Three weeks ago, Gov. Jerry Brown laid out a fair and comprehensive plan to address California’s growing public employee pension liability crisis. The governor’s 12-point plan received widespread and positive news coverage from taxpayers, pension experts and media. Last week, the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce officially endorsed the […]
Gov. Brown’s Pension Reform Deserves Vigorous Support
Last week, Gov. Jerry Brown released a forward-looking pension reform plan that will apply to current and future public employees, including state, local and school employees. His 12-point plan is aggressive and comprehensive, and deserves the support of the taxpayers and the state Legislature. It acknowledges the runaway and unsustainable costs of public employee pensions […]
Exporting Our Way to a Stronger Economy
President Barack Obamais signing three historic free trade agreements (FTAs) this week that will bode well for American companies and their employees. No state or its citizens will benefit more from these three agreements with Korea, Panama and Colombia than California. And for that we thank the U.S. Congress for passing the measure last week. […]
L.A. Should Vote Down New Bureaucracy to Regulate Banks
When the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce sponsored ACCESS L.A. City Hall last Wednesday, we had one message that resonated throughout the morning — JOBS. We presented the City Council with a list of eight things they can do to create jobs, stimulate the economy and improve the quality of life for thousands of […]
Good Jobs, Less Traffic, Better Air Quality: What Else Could You Ask For?
As the Port of Los Angeles prepares for the opening of the widened Panama Canal in 2014, the goods movement industry is doing its part to make sure that Los Angeles is ready to meet the challenge with innovative, environmentally friendly projects and technology. Modernizing the terminals, deepening the channel, cleaning the trucks and developing […]
LAUSD Test Gains — A Reason to Cheer
Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) teachers, administrators and staff deserve our congratulations and support. Despite significant budget cutbacks, LAUSD students achieved a 19-point Academic Performance Index (API) percentage gain for the 2010-11 school year. This increase in performance exceeded the State average for the second year in a row and was the highest gain among urban […]
Moving the Ball Down the Field
The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce has consistently rallied our members and legislators to support regulatory reform in California — a cause made all the more urgent by the Great Recession and the continued slump of the California economy. It was exciting last week to watch members of the state Legislature respond to that […]