Health Expo and Career Fair - Wednesday, April 25th

Attendees at the Health Expo and Career Fair will learn about healthy living from health businesses and providers, get free health screenings, and network with employers looking for talent.

Visit  www.tinyurl.com/HealthExpoCareerFair2018 for general admission tickets and sponsorship opportunities. 

The Valley Economic Alliance hosted Heart of Giving on February 14th; a learning   luncheon for non-profit organizations to explore new ways to increase revenue and reduce expenses. 

More than 10 non-profits were in attendance including New Horizons, MEND, VEDC, Tierra Del Sol, Los Angeles Jewish Home, AIA SFV, Cancer Support Community, Calabasas Chamber of Commerce, United Chambers of Commerce, Penny Lane Centers and more. 

Presentations included Rainmaking by Rainmaking Resources, The Valley Economic Alliance's business assistance program, advancing your cause for good in the Valleys by the Community Foundation of the Valleys, Community Giving by Wells Fargo and Alltemp Solutions. 

The luncheon was sponsored by Bolton and Company. The next non-profit learning luncheon is set for August 2018. 

Photo 1: Pictured from left; Luis Gonzalez, AVP Community Relations of Wells Fargo; Gregg Sherkin, Vice President, Senior Manager, Community Relations, Southern California of Wells Fargo; Jack Orlee, Vice President of Community Development with Wells Fargo, Tamara Gurney, Chairman of Community Foundation of the Valleys, Briget Loden, Executive Director of Community Foundation of the Valleys; Hank Frazee, CEO of Rainmaking Resources; Jeannie DeLaura, Senior Vice President of Bolton and Company; Guillermo Gonzalez, Associate Vice President of Bolton and Company; Heath Patton, Partner of Alltemp Solutions and Kenn Phillips, President and CEO of The Valley Economic Alliance.

Photo 2: Rainmaking demonstration by Hank Frazee, CEO of Rainmaking Resources.

The program was live streamed and can be viewed here.

 

Comerica Bank hosted a grand re-opening reception at their Los Angeles Crenshaw Banking Center on February 22nd and showed appreciation for their  customers and community partners including The Valley Economic Alliance with a $25,000 donation! Attendees also enjoyed food, drinks and music. 

Photo from left: Caroline Chambers, Vice President / National Diversity and Inclusion Programs Manager; Jeff Cohen with The Valley Economic Alliance's Business Accelerator Program; Mark Campbell, Senior Vice President / Credit Administration Officer; Angela Knight, Vice President / Relationship Manager, Los Angeles Business Banking; Crystalyn Evans, Assistant Vice President / Banking Center Manager - LA Crenshaw and Don Kincey, CA External Affairs & Corporate Communications and Economic Alliance Board member. 

Westfield's plan is to scrape the old mall and create a large $1.5 billion mixed-use complex. When completed, the project would have 1,432 residential units, 244,000 square feet of retail space, 629,000 square feet of office space, and two hotels with 572 guest rooms, in addition to the 320,000-square-foot entertainment and sports center.

The Westfield project is still moving through the city's approval process. Construction would start on the northeast corner of the property at Owensmouth Avenue and Erwin Street and progress counterclockwise around the property. The first phase would be completed in 2021. It would take an additional 14 years to finish the entire project.

Promenade 2035 was the result of the work done by area stakeholders on the Warner Center 2035 plan that set development guidelines and goals.

The Los Angeles City Council approved the Warner Center 2035 plan in October 2013. The goal of the plan was to make Warner Center a more walkable area where people would not need their cars to get to work or find entertainment, dining and other amenities.

"This can be a new ingredient to create a downtown feel in the Warner Center," Green said of Westfield's project.

Source. 

Monday, February 5, 2018

San Fernando Valley Business Journal 

If you're still steaming about L.A.'s new trash system - which so far has resulted in poorer service and much higher costs - just wait.

The state is hitting businesses with a different plan next year: A new recycling mandate that calls on businesses to sort food waste and landscape trimmings from the rest of the trash and get a separate pickup for that.

As you may have read in the last issue of the Business Journal ("Stiff Price for Trash"), no one knows how much this will cost business operators, but the extra pickup alone could well be hundreds or even thousands of dollars a month for those businesses targeted by the law.

And if you think your business wouldn't possibly be caught by this new state law, you may want to hold that jot of happiness. Any business that generates four cubic yards of organic waste a week would be hit. Four cubic yards is enough to fill a large dumpster - which, granted, is pretty big - but consider that the organic waste includes not only food but any food-contaminated wrappers or containers, such as napkins, paper plates and even pizza boxes. Oh, and remember that organic waste includes landscape trimmings - grass clippings, leaves, etc. - and suddenly that four-square-yard threshold starts looking small.

That means if you operate a medium-sized business with an employee cafeteria, you'll probably be affected. Ditto if you are lucky enough to have a fair amount of landscaping around your building. Ditto if you own an apartment complex with five or more units. And if you operate a restaurant, even a small one, well, forget about it.

Another thing: if the state determines that it's not meeting its organic recycling mandate, they can decrease the tipping point to two cubic yards, effective Jan. 1, 2020. Obviously, that means many more businesses would be caught in the new system in a couple of years.

In case it hasn't occurred to you already, let's mention this: It also means that if you are affected by the new law, you will have to come up with a system to sort the organic garbage from the rest of your trash. Another expense. Oh, and find room for another dumpster.