California International Business Report » Economic Development

Bridges to Italy economic development group launched

editor — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 06:58:28 +0000

Bridges to Italy has launched as a first-of-its-kind economic development organization focused on helping Southern California entrepreneurs, researchers and investors pursue new business opportunities with their colleagues in Italy and throughout the world. The nonprofit organization will foster cooperation and collaboration through an ongoing series of networking events that highlight Italy’s emerging technology sectors. The first such event was held February 25th at UC Irvine, and introduced business leaders from Southern California and throughout the US to some of Italy’s most renowned biotechnology pioneers. “The goal of Bridges to Italy is to help business and research leaders in Southern California connect one-on-one with their foreign colleagues to build successful new ventures in the technology sector,” said Bridges to Italy founder Bianca Dellepiane. “Information and personal relationships are the building blocks of international business collaboration.”

Bridges to Italy events present information about business, research and investment opportunities in a format that transcends language and cultural barriers. The organization’s approach to international business introduces Italian and US participants to each other’s unique cultural, as well as business, resources and opportunities. This in turn helps its events attract a uniquely multicultural and multidisciplinary crowd. “We want to make learning about international business opportunities an approachable and even fun endeavor,” Dellepiane explains. More information about Bridges to Italy can be found at www.BridgesToItaly.org

CalPERS claims $114 million boost to Central Valley economy

editor — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 04:41:35 +0000

Investments by the California Public Employeesâ€™ Retirement System generated $114 million in economic activity in the Central Valley last year, according to a research report by funded by CalPERS. The report says CalPERS created more than 900 jobs in in 2006 in the Great Valley region â€“ the area between Kern County on the south and San Joaquin County on the north. The investments returned state and local tax revenues of nearly $7 million and generated employee compensation of more than $27 million. The report was written by the Applied Research Center of California State University, Sacramento. CalPERS is the nationâ€™s largest public pension fund with more than $250 billion in assets. It administers retirement and health benefit plans of 1.5 million active and retired California public employees and their families.

Progressive Economic Think Tank To Launch in Los Angeles

editor — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 04:28:07 +0000

The founding conference for the Horizon Institute, a new progressive economic think tank, will take place tomorrow in Los Angeles. Featured speakers at the event include Jared Bernstein (Economic Policy Institute), John Podesta (Center for American Progress), Maria Elena Durazo (Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO), Professor Manuel Pastor (USC), Harold Meyerson (Washington Post, The American Prospect), Madeline Janis (L.A. Alliance for a New Economy), Professor Peter Dreier (Occidental College), Joan Ling (Community Corporation of Santa Monica), John Canham-Clyne (Change to Win) and Rev. William Smart (L.A. Alliance for a New Economy). The founding conference is open to the public and will take place Tuesday October 16, 2007 at the Cathedral Conference Center in Los Angeles.

Overseas flights add 82 billion to Southern California economy

editor — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 01:50:40 +0000

Overseas international flights at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) make a substantial contribution to the economy of Southern California, adding $82.1 billion in total economic output, according to a study by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) and other organizations. he LAEDC study revealed that the LAX flights created 363,700 direct and indirect jobs with annual wages of $19.3 billion in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura Counties in 2006. Over the course of 2006, an average transoceanic flight traveling round-trip from LAX every day added $623 million in economic output and sustained 3,120 direct and indirect jobs in Southern California with $156 million in wages. The economic output, jobs, and wages were calculated from the production and transportation of freight exports (carried in the belly of the plane), the transportation of freight imports, the operation of the airport itself, and the purchases made by international visitors on the flights. Freight exports (which are generally high-value items) accounted for over 80% of the annual economic activity generated by international flights at LAX.

Fresno recognized for Economic Development Programs

editor — Wed, 09 May 2007 20:48:00 +0000

“FresnoStartUp.com and Municipal Restoration Zone programs, created by the City Economic Development Department, received statewide recognition from the California Association for Local Economic Development (CALED) on May 2, 2007. The two programs were created to help improve the economic outlook for the City of Fresno. FresnoStartUp.com is an informational based web site that serves the business community. The site was created as a one-stop-shop for individuals interested in starting a new business in the City of Fresno. The Municipal Restoration Zone (MRZ) is an initiative of Mayor Autry’s created in January of 2006 to help end the tale of two cities by providing significant fee and tax incentives, in addition to the initiatives already in place as part of the Federal Empowerment Zone and State Enterprise Zone, to businesses located within the City’s urban core.”

LAEDC releases International Trade Report

editor — Wed, 02 May 2007 07:32:00 +0000

The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. has released its annual International Trade Trends and Impacts report. As is usual for this otherwise reputable organization, they have lumped all imports and exports onto one category with frequent references to what that they call “the total value of two-way international trade”. It isn’t until the discussion of individual trade partners is there any mention at all about the huge trade deficits with these countries, and we can only assume that Los Angeles Ports must be shipping a huge number of empty shipping containers back to Asia. With China, for example, there is a regional trade deficit of 83 billion dollars- a nearly 5 to 1 import to export ratio with Southern California. In spite of this, the LAEDC did not even mention the stunning difference between imports and exports in their list of “challenges” facing the industry.

Growth amid Gloom: California’s Central Valley

editor — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 03:43:00 +0000

Excerpt from L.A. Times article about the Central Valley City of Delano and its manager Abdel Salem, an Egyptian native who arrived in Delano about four years ago from El Centro where he had been city manager for more than two decades:

This city of 49,000 now has no fewer than 35 major building projects in the pipeline, including a giant shopping center. Hundreds of homes are being added each year as families spill over from the coast in search of affordable housing. “We know the people are coming,” Salem says. “The Central Valley is the last frontier.”

Despite the bustle, however, Delano is down at the heel. Its unemployment rate stands at around 20%, far higher than the county’s overall mark of 6.9%. The median per-capita income in the city is about $11,000 â€” just a shade above the federal poverty line. Since 2000, annual population increases have outstripped the creation of jobs (2.8% on average compared with 1.7%). Tumbledown shacks dot the outskirts of town.

What’s abundantly clear is that an influx of residents “isn’t necessarily a key to prosperity,” says Carol Whiteside, president of the Great Valley Center, a Modesto-based group trying to promote the region’s well-being.

Meanwhile, the pathologies that tend to go hand in hand with privation have descended upon Delano. Among them is gang violence. When I got my hair trimmed the other day at Firme’s Barber Shop, just off Main Street, the buzz was about how students were recently put on alert and shooed straight home from school. The reason: Police feared that Los Angeles gang members might make the two-hour drive to Delano and start shooting in retaliation for a MySpace posting they deemed offensive.

This juxtaposition â€” growth amid gloom â€” points up the enormous opportunities and challenges facing not only Delano but also much of inland California. Extending from Riverside to Redding, the area “is perhaps the greatest untapped outlet for upward mobility in the Golden State,” declared a report last month from the Brookings Institution. If our leaders are smart about how they plan and invest, this vast stretch can be a place that provides decent jobs, a strong sense of community and a shot at homeownership.

But if they goof up, the cost will be high. How this part of California fares, the Brookings study noted, “may determine whether the state remains competitive and a beacon of opportunity in the early decades of the 21st century.” Complicating matters is that these 75,000 square miles are far from homogenous. The rural reaches of the Central Valley, in particular, trail far behind the Inland Empire and the Sacramento suburbs in their economic vitality.

Lt. Governor Garamendi stresses importance of skilled work-force

editor — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 04:16:00 +0000

“California must find ways to produce more skilled workers from its schools system or face an erosion of its economy, a state-organized panel was told here Wednesday. ‘The economy in our state will falter unless we make this investment,’ Lt. Gov. John Garamendi said in an interview… Garamendi had gathered a group of business, education and government leaders at the California State University, East Bay campus to discuss ways to prepare young people to find jobs in California’s knowledge-based economy. The common theme: Not nearly enough money and resources have been deployed to bolster the ability of universities, community colleges and high schools to train people to join the work forces of the future. ‘There is a need for more tax revenues,’ Garamendi said. At the same time, though, colleges and high schools must become more efficient at delivering effective education services and training to students, Garamendi said. He called for a complete revamp of the state’s creaky education laws. ‘Schools have to respond more nimbly to the needs of businesses,’ Garamendi said. Those who gathered at the event at the university’s Valley Business & Technology school pointed to a drastic shortage of job candidates. Some employment seekers struggle to pass sixth-grade math and reading tests given by companies such as the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. auto assembly plant in Fremont.”

City of San Jose launches venture capital fund

editor — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 20:11:00 +0000

“Can venture capitalists spark an entire city? San Jose is about to find out. In December the city launched a $3 million venture capital fund to invest in local businesses. The fund will be managed by Pacific Community Ventures, the investment arm of a nonprofit aimed at helping low-income California communities, and will target businesses with annual revenues of $3 million to about $15 million. The idea, according to Jeff Ruster, deputy director of San Jose’s Office of Economic Development, is to create jobs and enhance the city’s tax base, and make money in the bargain. ‘This isn’t just about making a 16 to 20 percent profit, but also a social return on investment,’ he says. PCV will put up $5.70 – culled from its own funds and from other investors – for every dollar that San Jose invests. The city’s fund will make ten to 12 investments of as much as $500,000 each, says Eduardo Rallo, PCV’s managing director. At presstime, San Jose was about to make its first investment.”

Long Beach earns recognition for effort to save C-17

editor — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 06:43:00 +0000

“The City of Long Beach Red Team, established to fight off federal budget threats to the Long Beach-built Boeing C-17, was recognized by Trade & Industry Development magazine for its efforts to retain thousands of jobs and generate economic growth associated with the military cargo plane. ‘What the Red Team did was tell the C-17 story, that this aircraft is a national asset,’ Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster said in a statement. ‘But our efforts haven’t stopped; I can tell you that every member of the Red Team remains dedicated to keeping this vital program alive.’ Trade & Industry Development, a national publication specializing in corporate growth strategies, honored the city of Long Beach with the 2007 Award for Community Impact for the way it worked with Boeing executives and representatives from local, regional and state agencies, utilities and business leaders to retain the C-17 program.”