VICA's 71st Annual Meeting

Today, VICA celebrated another successful year of service to the San Fernando Valley at our 71st Annual Meeting - Home Edition! VICA culminates every successful year with this celebratory program for some of the Valley's finest volunteers, business leaders, scholars and public officials. VICA honored a few of these outstanding individuals with awards for their service and commitment to the community.

Among the award recipients was VICA First Vice Chair Victor Berrellez (US Bank), who was presented with the 15th Annual President's award, sponsored by Comcast NBC Universal. The President's Award honors a member that has gone above and beyond in service to VICA in the past year. Berrellez is an entrepreneur and businessman who serves the business community as a Vice President and Relationship Manager for US Bank. He is also very active in the San Fernando Valley community.

The 28th Annual Harmon Ballin Community Service Award, sponsored by The Garland, was presented to Darnell Tyler (Comcast NBCUniversal) for his outstanding contribution to the community through long-term community service activities. Tyler currently serves as a Vice Chair of VICA and holds positions on eight other boards and committees within our community, but also has a long history of service, including seven years in the US Air Force.

Since 1978, VICA has presented the Robert E. Gibson Corporate Award for Excellence to industry leaders who have contributed in making the San Fernando Valley the most forward-thinking business community in Southern California. This year's 42nd Robert E. Gibson Award, sponsored by Bobrick Washroom Equipment was presented to PricewaterhouseCoopers, the second largest professional services network in the world.

VICA also recognized three distinguished students who are not only scholars, but represent the ideals of entrepreneurship and scholarship. We are proud to have presented scholarships to the following three students: Erica Hightower (Los Angeles Valley College), recipient of the 5th Annual Rickey M. Gelb Scholarship; Skye Loventhal (Granada Hills Charter School), recipient of the 5th Annual Melvyn A. Kohn Memorial Scholarship; and Samantha Schwartz (UCLA), recipient of the 6th Annual Marvin R. Selter Memorial Scholarship.

VICA's 71st Annual Meeting was presented by the California Alliance for Renewable Energy Solutions, San Fernando Valley Business Journal, and Southern California Gas Company and was co-sponsored by The Boeing Co., Charter Communications, Home Depot, and the Los Angeles Daily News. A big thank you to our sponsors, elected officials and members for making the 71st Annual Meeting, and VICA's 71 years of service to the Valley, such a success!

Silver Member:

VICA is an active supporter of the Delta Conveyance Project, which will provide reliable, high-quality, and affordable water to Southern California. This week, VICA urged the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) to commit to funding the environmental review and planning process for the project. VICA explained that MWD's support and funding of the Delta Conveyance project would help ensure the region's water resiliency. Modernizing the aging water supply is vitally important to 29 million people, millions of acres of farmland, Southern California's $1.6 trillion economy, and our environment. We were pleased with the Board's decision to move forward with funding their share of the project. We will continue to be active in advocating for the Delta Conveyance Project, as it is essential to securing an affordable and reliable water source for generations to come.

VICA strongly supports S. 4421 (Murphy), the Temporary Reciprocity to Ensure Access to Treatment (TREAT) Act, which will provide temporary licensing reciprocity across state lines to medical practitioners. The TREAT Act is crucial to ensure that our health system is capable of handling national emergencies both now and in the future, and VICA needs you to voice your support to Congress!

The COVID-19 Public Health Crisis has shown that access to health care is crucial to the welfare and economy of our nation. The TREAT Act would allow healthcare professionals to bypass lengthy license requests while still adhering to safety measures. In doing so, the TREAT Act expands possibilities for treatment and provides important flexibility to accessing safe and timely health care in national emergencies.

The United States faces an unprecedented path forward from the COVID-19 crisis and allowing temporary licensing reciprocity for health care professionals will not only play an important role in our current recovery but will also help us prepare for future crises.

The LA Al Fresco program has been a lifeline to Los Angeles restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic, with over 2,000 restaurants permitted to-date. While outdoor dining is temporarily suspended, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) continues to process and approve applications for curbside and street closure dining operations for use as soon as restrictions are lifted.

LADOT was authorized $2 million in funding for the LA Al Fresco Program, and the CARES Act requires outdoor dining improvements to be installed before the end of the year.

VICA strongly encourages businesses to apply for curbside dining closures this week to ensure that they are completed before the end of the year and can be reimbursed with CARES funding.

UCLA Economists predict the "roaring twenties," with robust economic growth and acceleration after distribution of a vaccine.

The CSU system plans to return to in-person learning in the Fall of 2021, noting the recent advancements in vaccine distribution.

US unemployment claims rose to 853,000 in November amid a COVID-19 resurgence, the most since September.

The LA County Board of Supervisors asked the US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development to cancel the 2021 homeless count in LA, citing COVID-19 concerns.

A child has died of a COVID-19 MIS-C related illness, the first in Los Angeles County and possibly the first in California.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has been chosen to be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services under the Biden Administration.

A superior court judge has ruled that LA County acted "arbitrarily" with the outdoor dining ban. The state's overriding ban on outdoor dining still holds.

The Federal Trade Commission and 48 states are suing Facebook for monopolistic practices, and Facebook could be require to divest Instagram.

Steven Kats - Kiewit

Steven Kats is a Chicago native and although he is still a diehard Chicago sports fan (Cubs/Bulls/Bears), he has been in Los Angeles for almost a decade and considers himself an adoptive Angeleno.

I have been involved with VICA for over 7 years now and it has been a definite game changer. This organization is unlike most other affiliations. VICA not only goes the above and beyond to help you and your business grow, but it has also provided long lasting friendships, along with a platform to connect with industry/political professionals.

VICA has been a great asset for me and my career. Regarding my industry which is Transportation, VICA is not only plugged into the San Fernando Valley but it has been extremely helpful for the entirety of Los Angeles County. Also, VICA has supported me when I was working at a small business to now a fortune 500 company and everything in between. In short, Stuart and team are here to create a plan specific to you and your company!

There have been many great events (especially the Business Forecast Conference) and great friendships created, but I really have appreciated being a Co-chair of the Transportation committee. First of all, you get a great breakfast from the Garland, but second, you can always guarantee a great set of speakers and vote on legislation that is so important to the future of Transportation.

At Kiewit, it has been at the forefront of our mind. We are a very large organization and have to look at things a bit different, especially since much of our work is in the field and has been deemed an essential service. So, I have been very proud on how Kiewit has reacted, and we actually have identified an internal group to respond to this situation and understand that there isn’t a one size fits all across the company. From my short time here, it has been apparent that Safety is the foundation to Kiewit and it seems like they are approaching COVID-19 similarly to how they approach safety, which is at the highest level.

Sponsored by The Garland

VICA members can promote their business, events and news in VICA Weekly. Member messages are available for $50 per week or $175 for four weeks. Messages are text-based and may not contain more than 70 words. A logo may be added for an additional $5 per week. For more information or to schedule your member message, contact cathy@vica.com or call (818) 817-0545.