All posts by LosAdmin

Los Angeles Cyclists

News, ,
Bicycle path

Over $40 million in state funding has been earmarked for the creation of new bicycle and pedestrian groundwork.  The work will be carried in both South LA and the San Fernando Valley. $18.8 million of the funding will create three miles of paths for cyclists and walkers alongside the LA River, beginning at Reseda’s Vanalden Avenue to Burbank Boulevard.

According to Bob Blumenfield, a member of the LA council, these grants will go a long way toward transforming the river into: “an amazing linear park that all Angelenos can enjoy.” The ultimate goal is to create a biking path along all 51 miles of the river, stretching from Canoga Park to Long Beach.   Another council member, Marqueece Harris-Dawson referred to it as the: “largest known public investment in this neighborhood in generations.”

The other goal– known as Twenty-Eight By `28 Project – is the completion of 28 major transportation enterprises before the Olympics of 2028 to be held in LA.  Alongside the pedestrian/cycling paths, wheelchair/stroller access will improve with new ADA access ramps; urban shade will be added along the corridor and more.  As Harris Dawson explained:

“We are glad to see South Los Angeles getting the investment it deserves. This may be the largest known public investment in this neighborhood in generations. We are committed to making up for lost time. The project will transform this community into a safe and vibrant part of Los Angeles, while also improving mobility, creating a cleaner environment, and increasing access to transportation and jobs.”

Some Business Success Stories

News

Los Angeles has often gotten a reputation for being a difficult place to start a business.  Given that it was ranked among the 10 least affordable metro areas, rendering an increase in business costs, one could understand why they may be put off from starting a company in the region.   As such, in this article we point to a couple of recent good news stories for the business world in LA.

On its very first day trading on Wall Street, Beyond Meat (BYND)’s investors sent shares up to 163%.  With shares going opening at $46 and closing on May 2 at $65.75, this was a huge success for the vegetarian based food producer.  This resulted in a market value for the firm of $3.8b.

Over at investment management firm Aristotle, the firm’s Managing Director and Chief Innovation Officer Robert R. Womack Jr. was just named 2019’s Corporate CIO of the Year by the Los Angeles Business Journal.  He received this award for his “ tremendous accomplishments over the past few years, which included creating and leading Aristotle’s Business Solutions team during a period of rapid growth, executing a multi-year transformative initiative firmwide, and building Aristotle’s best-in-class technology platform to meet the needs of the company, its affiliates, and most importantly, Aristotle’s valued clients.”

And then there is Proper Hospitality co-founder and The Kor Group President Brian De Lowe who does not seem to be put off by doing business in California.  Later this year he is due to open two luxury hotels: one offering 270 rooms (and an 8,000 sq.ft rooftop) and the other with 148 rooms (and a 5,000 sq.ft rooftop), both in Santa Monica.

Rick Garcia of CBS News

News

To be a great news anchor you need to know how to really tell a story. It’s so much more than just reading out news.  This is even more the case today when new technologies and mobile devices are storming the news reporting world.  Experts agree that journalists and reporters ultimately need to know how to really tell a story. One example of this is Rick Garcia CBS (as he’s been called).  He has been recognized for his ability to tell a story as a news anchor through Emmy awards and other channels. 

Sometimes the storyteller themselves need to have a story. “Rick Garcia CBS” was a perfect example of this with how he managed to upsurge rankings through his anchoring.  In particular, he did this  with KCAL9.

The Rick Garcia CBS experience began in 2011. This was at a time when it was found that local TV was “the most popular source for the two topics that almost everyone is interested in—weather and breaking news.” Garcia began hosting the 6pm News show at CBS and also working at KCAL9, causing their ratings to jump so high that the station’s prime time news show became the most-watched for Southern California in 2010-11. Rick Garcia’s CBS news career took place at CBS2 News at three time slots: 5, 6 and 11. 

Rick Garcia’s CBS career spanned over two decades. He was also the host for FOX Overtime at KTTV’s NFL post-game show.

LA Firm’s Technology Tackling Toxins

Environment,

LA based Addvantage USA Ltd will begin its task of reducing the 16 million metric tons of Nitrous Oxide produced each year by America’s  transportation industry. It has the technology to, according to CEO and co-founder, Daniel Mitchell, reduce up to 17.6 percent of diesel used by US haulage firms as well as decreasing NOx emissions by 83 percent.

And the technology is easy to implement as well.  It takes only four hours to retrofit into vehicles; a project that has undergone development and testing for a decade.  According to Mitchell:

“Achieving the investment as quickly as we have is very encouraging. With ever tighter margins and diesel representing around 40% of a fleet’s overall costs, we are confident that this proven, patented technology provides compelling economic and environmental arguments for US fleets.”

LA is no stranger to this kind of work.  Earlier this week on Earth Day (22nd April) the LA Port marked its own environmental success, revealing the newest clean heavy-duty trucks.  Produced by Kenworth and Toyota, in conjunction with the of Los Angeles celebrated on Monday with its own unique flair, unveiling the Port of Los Angeles and the California Air Resources Board, 10 of these zero-emission fuel cell electric trucks will be used this year to transfer cargo, in addition to the two already in service. 

LA County’s Successful Businesses

new businesses,

When it comes to talk of startup businesses in the California region, the two words that usually come to mind are Silicon Valley.  But actually when we take a look at the numbers (from the Bureau of Labor Statistics) we find a staggering $656 billion in GDP (27 percent of California’s economic output) that in 2015 came from LA County!

In manufacturing, 341,000 jobs were generated (with close to $25 billion in 2017 wages).  LA boasts the second largest economy and right now – vis-à-vis GDP per capita, global trade and transportation, home prices, municipal debt, corporate equity and jobs – it is doing better than the largest and the third largest (New York and Chicago respectively). So with all of these variables, LA is faring really well.

Homelessness is a synonym often associated with LA but even that seems to not be as bad; in fact in 2018 it actually receded quite significantly.

Employment News

Employment,
shared workspace

Employment, investment and office constructions are in fluctuation in LA.  Here we look at three new such developments connected to Homeland Security, Lyft and Toolbox LA

In an attempt to bolster hiring operations and diminish unauthorized employment, Homeland Security Investigations program has hired DFS Group and Contemporary Services Corporation.  Undocumented workers are problematic for the vulnerabilities they result in with the marketplace today.  False documentation is used to get benefits not due to them and even steal the identifies of legal US workers.  To combat this, ICE initiated the IMAGE program in 2006.

DFS has signed the ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers program.  The idea would be to divulge any vulnerabilities that unauthorized workers could exploit; join employment eligibility verification program E-verify; training staff on IMAGE Best Employment Practices and take on an ICE Form I-9 audit. According to Human Resource Director of Corporate Compliance at CSC Jim Lenoue:

“The IMAGE Program squarely hits on what our company is about. As a company that provides security services at major gatherings, our customers place their trust on our team and our services. Being an IMAGE partner promotes our company’s reputation and its resolve to maintain integrity in our hiring practices.”

The fact that CSC and DFS have committed to IMAGE leads to the greater likelihood of creating and maintaining an “authorized workforce.”

Lyft is making investments in places such as LA.  A staggering $50 million is being infused into cities in which it operates and local transportation initiatives will be supported by this injection of money through the Bridge Home program (which works in conjunction with Greater LA YWCA, PATH and The People Concern).  Lyft City Works is the resulting program which is indicative of Lyft’s “long-term commitment” supporting cities with the best transport solutions.

While WeWork seems to be taking over everywhere, LA  has its own little gem.  Toolbox LA – in San Fernando Valley – is a co-working space with a difference.  Its “innovation hub includes coworking, shared desk space, dedicated desks, private offices, event space, a makerspace, hardware accelerator Make In LA, and biotech lab for startups Lab Launch.”  But it is more than that as it breeds on ecosystem operation with a goal of becoming a “comprehensive, self-sustaining community focused on high-concept hardware and software companies.”

So with the potential of LA moving into sustainability, creating  more authorized employment and making some serious investments in transportation systems, there is much positive change happening in the LA business world right now.

Representing Women in LA

News, , ,

Los Angeles has been – and continues to be – criticized for its lack of representation of women in various industries.  Indeed, just yesterday an article came out in The LA Times entitled UCLA diversity report finds women and minorities still underrepresented in film and TV.

Despite this finding, we are simultaneously seeing these groups thrive in the region.  One example was seen in Top Chef’s Season 16 whereby four of the five spots in the final competition were held by women.  And that shouldn’t really be a surprise since over the last few years, LA has become home to many of Top Chef female contestants who have substantially contributed to the region’s culinary scene.  Examples include Brooke Williamson, Betty Fraser and Kuniko Yagi of Pikunico.

Meanwhile over in Hollywood it’s not all doom and gloom.  Thanks to the show Queer Eye, women will be recognized with a special Circle of Empowerment video clip as a tribute to International Women’s Day.  In this clip, Karamo Brown introduces Jody to a group of diverse women who “want to share how they view themselves and how they show themselves love.”

LA Housing Market

Housing

It does seem – at least at first glance – that LA’s housing prices are somewhat inflated.  But perhaps not.  ECSquared takes a look at what makes LA such a great place to live and why the current situation is that those selling properties are actually being shortchanged.

The Business of Winning an Oscar

Awards, ,

Historically, winning an Oscar has been a big deal.  If a studio received an Oscar, it could seriously up their business and lead to all sorts of new contracts.  Revenue would almost be guaranteed for years to come.  But is that still the case today?  If a studio wins an Oscar now, does that mean they are set for the future and their name is cast in gold forever?  Is it worth their while in investing in getting Oscar voters for their movies or has the hype died down?

A lot has changed and as such, the value of an Oscar has followed suit.  These days it is not as meaningful as it was.  The general public doesn’t seem to be as wowed by a studio getting an award. They want more.  Or, they want something altogether different.  According to Nash Information Services, head of film data, Bruce Nash:

“There’s a risk they just seem a little more irrelevant. There’s a sense that the buildup has been a bit of a mess. “

And the fact that Oscar campaigns are hugely expensive (an average of $15m). industry executives wonder what the value of the award will be for the next generation.  The first century the award was out it indicated peer recognition and had an embedded place in culture.  It’s not definitive if that is still the case.

Indeed, according to Wharton Marketing Professor Jehoshua Eliashberg, more important than winning the Oscar (for financial benefits) is the nomination.  Winning is good too but it seems the nomination is all important.  Plus, it depends who wins.  A studio win is different to a person win as an actor’s salary will increase from an Oscar win.

So while an Oscar win does definitely mean prestige and is exciting to receive, in less cases these days it is resulting in fiscal success.  Getting nominated is still very appealing to those in the industry, but it’s far from a guarantee vis-à-vis financial recognition.