Implementation Begins on Los Angeles County Strategic Plan for Economic Development

Related reading: LA County Strategic Plan for Economic Development

June 8th kick-off will bring together region’s leaders, highlight partnerships between diverse community sectors, and include surprise elements to spark inspiration and a spirit of collaboration going forward

LOS ANGELES, CA – (June 5, 2017)    This week marks a milestone, as work begins to transform printed strategies into collaborative action across the L.A. County region, for the purpose of improving economic opportunity for residents and businesses.  For the 500+ stakeholders and civic stewards who collaborated on writing the L.A. County Strategic Plan for Economic Development (“Plan”), the waiting is over and they are being contacted by a new implementation team to enact the reforms prioritized by the consensus process, which will help change our economy’s trajectory for the better.  On June 8th, 2017 at 5:30pm, these leaders will gather at California State University, Los Angeles, to celebrate the following progress:

  • New Team: Executive Director Marianne Haver Hill is joined by Program Coordinator Sam Marquez, Communications Manager Collette Hanna, and Data Analyst Pisacha Wichianchan, all dedicated to implementation work on the Plan.
  • New Brand: At the June 8th Kick-off party, the Plan will be renamed to signify its progression from paper to action, a new website will be launched at lacountystrategicplan.com and other news and opportunities will be announced.  RSVP for the party by visiting laedc.org/launchparty
  • New Action Plan: These above resources are accompanied by a work plan that will engage stakeholder organizations across the region, to collectively make a difference for individuals struggling with economic opportunity in our rapidly changing economy.

The diverse array of participating organizations illustrates the widespread recognition that while Los Angeles has recovered the jobs lost during the Great Recession, our rapid economic transition into the labor-displacing “automation age” is creating a labor market that is increasingly dominated by lower-paying, lower-skilled occupations, providing few pathways out of poverty.  Demonstrating this point, L.A. County lost 90,000 manufacturing jobs since 2007, paying an average annual wage of $50,000, and replaced those jobs with 90,000 low-paying service sector jobs, paying an average annual wage of $20,000. This trajectory is simply unsustainable and does not provide adequate economic opportunity for the region’s residents.  In tandem with that trend, many firms are reporting they need workers with new skills, signifying a lack of alignment in in our workforce development systems.

To date, this extraordinary group of civically-engaged institutions coming together to fund the Plan includes:

  • Bank of America, California State University-Dominguez Hills, California State University-Long Beach, California State University-Los Angeles, California State University-Northridge, California State Polytechnic University-Pomona, Los Angeles Community College District, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, Kennedy Wilson, Roy & Patricia Disney Family Foundation, Steve Ballmer Group, Union Bank, Weingart Foundation and Wells Fargo

The team will help mobilize organizations across the county to drive implementation of the Plan’s strategies in areas such as: early childhood development; education and workforce development; innovation and entrepreneurship support; foreign direct investment attraction; and building more livable communities, just to name a few. Under Marianne’s leadership, the Plan will advance strategies that address these and many other economic development-related priorities, while also assessing, tracking and publicizing the region’s five-year implementation progress and success along the way.

At its core, the Plan sets out the following goals for the region, with strategies under each:

  1. Invest in our people to provide greater opportunity
  2. Strengthen our leading export-oriented industry clusters, to create jobs
  3. Accelerate innovation and entrepreneurship
  4. Be more business-friendly
  5. Remove barriers to critical infrastructure development, financing and delivery
  6. Increase global connectedness
  7. Build more livable communities

Private, government, education, labor, community, philanthropy and nonprofit organizations are urged to be part of the Plan’s implementation. For more information, contact [email protected].

About the 2016-2020 L.A. County Strategic Plan for Economic Development

The Strategic Plan is a blueprint to strengthen economic opportunity and raise standards of living for our greater Los Angeles region, in the face of challenges stemming from the most rapid economic transition ever.  Developed after a year of public input and consensus of organizations and individuals throughout L.A. County, the Plan was published in January 2016, and contains over 100 strategies and 30 objectives to realize seven overarching goals.  Success hinges on collaborative and broad implementation by public, private, education, labor, and nonprofit sectors.  www.lacountystrategicplan.com

About LAEDC

Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) is focused on raising standards of living for residents of L.A. County by increasing economic opportunity and regional prosperity.  Through collaborative economic development leadership, LAEDC promotes a globally competitive, prosperous and growing L.A. County economy to improve the health and wellbeing of its residents and communities and enable those residents to meet their basic human need for a job.  Offering objective economic research and analysis, strategic assistance to government and business, and targeted public policy, LAEDC is guided and supported by the expertise and counsel of its business, government and education members and partners. LAEDC was established in 1981 as a private, non-profit, public benefit corporation.    www.laedc.org

Media contact: Lawren Markle, LAEDC, 213-236-4847, [email protected]


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