Strategic Advisory Committees

For more information on Strategic Advisory Committees, please contact JoAnne Golden at (213) 236-4837 or .

Green Economy

The committee's goal is to develop a “road map” for building a robust, global, export-orientated clean tech sector in LA County. The committee will look to identify and capitalize on green business opportunities, create and promote strategies to incubate and attract green companies and jobs to the region, and make recommendations to remove regulatory, policy and other barriers to growth in the clean tech sector.

Co-Chairs: David Abel, Publisher, VerdeXchange News, Metro Investment Report and The Planning Report; and Patti Wagner, Vice President, Accounting & Finance, Engineering and Operations Staff, Southern California Gas Company.

Green Buildings.The mission of the LAEDC Green Buildings Subgroup is to develop strategies and advance policies to upgrade existing building infrastructure in a way that supports and grows the Los Angeles region’s locally-driven, export-oriented clean technology sector, generates new jobs, and grows the regional economy. Chair: David Duel, Principal, Regreen Corporation
E-Mobility. The mission of the LAEDC E-Mobility Task Force is to develop a comprehensive LA County Electric Vehicle (EV) Deployment Community Blueprint; maximize Plug-in EV adoption rates, collect vital data, maximize infrastructure design and effectiveness; position LA County to Receive Federal Funding from DOE Deployment Community Program; and foster and support LA County's EV industry cluster to grow jobs and investment. Co-Chairs: Michael Boehm, COO, HB/Sustain; Michael Bissonette, Vice President and General Manager, AeroVironment Inc.; and Jeffrey Joyner, Attorney, Greenberg Traurig, LLP

Land Use

This committee researches issues and develops strategic initiatives and “best practice” policy recommendations that result in the preservation of job-producing industrial land in Los Angeles County as a way to strengthen our region’s capacity to retain and attract high-value jobs and business from the economic clusters important for economic growth and wealth creation.

Co-Chairs: Michael Banner, President, Los Angeles Local Development Corporation; and Julie Gertler, Founder & CEO, Consensus Inc.

Employment Land Working Group. Co-chairs: Allan Abshez, Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig, LLP; Byron Pinckert, AIA/NCARB, Director, HPA Architecture.

Workforce Development

This committee develops strategic programs and system-wide policy recommendations ensuring the availability of good jobs with career ladders, and that the industries which drive our region’s economy have enough qualified workers to meet their workforce attraction, development and retention needs.

Co-Chairs: Chancellor Daniel LaVista, Los Angeles Community College District; and Genine Wilson, Region Manager, Kelly Services.

World Trade

Through the collaborative efforts of the LAEDC and WTCA LA-Long Beach, the committee identifies issues, develops strategic initiatives, and creates opportunities that strengthen the region’s international trade sector, support international business development in our region, expand global trade opportunities in goods and services, and boost direct foreign investment in Los Angeles County.

Chair: Lessing Gold, Partner, Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP.
Staff Lead: Vance Baugham, President & CEO, World Trade Center Association Los Angeles-Long Beach.

Business-Friendly

This committee will examine issues, catalog best management practices, and develop strategic initiatives that create and promote an environment which is welcoming to businesses as necessary to retain and expand Los Angeles County’s existing job base while pro-actively attracting new businesses, industries, jobs and investment critical to sustained economic growth.

Co-Chairs: City of Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster and Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe.

State & Local Policy Working Group. To examine issues, catalog best management practices and develop, support and advance policies that improve California’s economic competitiveness. Chairs: Andrew Fogg, Lawyer, Cox, Castle & Nicholson LLP; and Joseph Ahn, Manager, Regional Government and Public Affairs, Northrop Grumman Corporation

Infrastructure

This committee's goal is to develop, champion and facilitate the implementation of a set of initiatives that address and correct our current dysfunctional infrastructure development, funding and delivery process. The Committee will focus on how best to partner in and/or support critical infrastructure funding and system-wide implementation solutions that merge economic, environmental and equity considerations.

Co-Chairs: Steve Finnegan, Manager, Government Affairs and Public Policy, Automobile Club of Southern California; and Praful Kulkarni, President & CEO, gkkworks.

Aviation: The mission will be to develop initiatives that support LAX modernization efforts to conveniently and safely accommodate the forecasted increase in air cargo and passenger volumes that are expected once we recover out of this economic downturn, as well as support LAX’s efforts to reclaim some of its lost market share – lost to other Western U.S. airports, e.g., San Francisco, Denver, and Phoenix – and boost customer satisfaction, which is at an all-time low. Chair: Viggo Butler, Chairman, United Airports Limited.
Healthcare: The mission will be to enhance job growth and business retention in LA County through a modern, accessible, and sustainable healthcare infrastructure. Co-chairs: David Hunt, Senior Vice President of Architecture, gkkworks; and Kristina Raspe, Association Senior Vice President of Real Estate and Asset Management, USC.
Ports/Goods Movement: The mission will be to develop initiatives that support “Green Growth” at a our twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to deliver green and modern projects, creating hundreds of thousands of high-wage jobs and contributing billions of dollars to our local economy, while ensuring a cleaner, more environmentally friendly facilities than the current sites. Chair: Pilar Hoyos, Vice President of Public Affairs, Watson Land Company; and Elizabeth Warren, Executive Director, FuturePorts.
Water: The mission will be to promote initiatives to ensure a reliable supply of clean and affordable water by implementing a portfolio of environmentally-sound strategies including conservation, storm water capture, recycling and groundwater storage that protect Southern California water supplies. Chair: Ed Casey, Partner at Alston & Bird LLP.