Tag Archives: Beacon Economics

Thanks to UCLA, LA Employment is Heaving

UCLA is LA County’s fourth largest employer.  Thanks to this public research educational institute in Westwood, LA, there are 72,000+ full-time jobs, generating $11.06 billion in Californian economic activity for the 2016-17 fiscal year.

As well as its employees and economic impact on the county, a report by Beacon Economics found 24 startups using UCLA-developed technology were launched in the 2016-17 fiscal year and 70 inventions from UCLA were licensed for commercial use.

According to Gene Block, Chancellor at UCLA:

 “UCLA’s contributions to our state’s economic vitality are significant and widespread, from discovering life-changing technologies to employing tens of thousands of Californians. Measuring this economic impact allows us to demonstrate how every dollar invested in UCLA pays substantial dividends back to people throughout our state.”

In addition, it was found that UCLA’s expenditure is having a positive impact on licensing, research and technology which is benefiting the overall economy.

LA Job Creation

A lot will change for LA should it win its 2024 Olympic Games bid.  Economically the city’s output would be incredibly impacted – in a positive way.  Various studies have been established to ascertain the potential economic impact such as those by the organizing committee, Los Angeles 2024, Beacon Economics LLC and the UC Riverside School of Business Center for Economic Forecasting and Development. Other research has found that close to 80,000 jobs and anywhere potentially $160 million or more in additional tax revenues.  Furthermore, the city’s economic output could be as much as $11.2 billion.

According to Beacon Economics founding partner and UC Riverside Center Director Christopher Thornberg:

“There is little doubt that hosting the Olympics is an enormous boost for a local economy — both in the short term as driven by activity surrounding the events themselves, and in the long term, given how these events raise the global profile of the region. The worry is always that these benefits come at too high a cost, but because Los Angeles already has many of the assets needed for a successful Olympic experience the upside is far greater than it would be for many other cities who would be hosting for the first time.”

Meanwhile a couple of weeks ago, the South LA area encountered the commencement of a new job training program.  This will likely get around 900 unemployed/underemployed residents ready to work The Reef – a mixed-use high-rise. According to Noreen McClendon, executive director of Concerned Citizens of South Central Los Angeles, this marks “an opportunity for us to lift a lot of people out of poverty, with all this concentration of projects in the Ninth District in the next few years.  The tragedy is that our community has been conditioned to believe that there are no opportunities.  We have a lot of people who have criminal backgrounds, and they’re told over and over again that once you have a felony, you can’t get employment.”  Alongside of this is a five week Boot Camp to prepare those who want to get a job with The Reef teaching job etiquette, fiscal responsibility and other fundamental skills.  With this new project, comes an opportunity to train around 1,000 low-income individuals living in the Ninth District to work in construction; a great opportunity for future employment in this thriving industry as well.

Boost in LA Economy

economyIndependent economic research firm Beacon Economics recently released a report at the LA Chamber of Commerce indicating that the region has encountered widespread, solid growth over the last year.  When looking at the year starting from September 2015, private sector business employment figures grew at a prosperous rate of 2 percent, resulting in the creation (in total) of almost 1.4 million jobs.

In addition, wages on average flourished, with the average annual wage increasing by 1.3 percent to $59,300.  There was an increase in sales tax receipts (2.4 percent) and city-collected gross business tax receipts (8.4 percent).  The 4.8 percent of plummeting unemployment rate that has been encountered is now lower than America’s average of 5.0 percent.  the largest areas of employment growth were construction and miscellaneous services.  The only industry to encounter a shrinkage was private education. In terms of construction, this number was facilitated by the fact that there was a substantial increase in the amount of residential units in mixed-use development projects to get permits over the last 12 months.

In terms of small businesses, Small Business Saturday is coming up on thanksgiving weekend at Flintridge Bookstore & Coffeehouse (La Cañada Flintridge, at the intersection of Foothill Blvd. and the Angeles Crest Hwy.).  The nationwide event – which began in 2010 – was established by American Express to support indie businesses and recognize their contributions to their communities.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that between 1993 and 2015 it was small businesses which were responsible for the establishment of most new jobs in America, and this was the case even during the economic downturn.