County Looking at Cutting Red Tape to Spur Business

The county's Community Development Commission is prepared to offer business loans, waive county fees and refund property taxes in order to create high-paying jobs and raise income levels, officials told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

Incomes are lower and poverty rates are higher in Los Angeles County than statewide, while the unemployment rate stands at 1.5 times the national average, according to a January report by the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation.

"L.A. County still has too many communities that suffer from severe joblessness," said Monique King-Viehland, the commission's deputy executive director. "Employment and under-employment remain significant challenges."

Some work is already underway, including plans to attract and develop bioscience companies and offer grants for renovations to blighted commercial areas like the Vermont Corridor.

Other initiatives are expected to be implemented beginning July 1. Programs include low-interest rate loans of $100,000 to $500,000 for small- and medium-sized manufacturing businesses and waiving county permit and license fees for small businesses.

The commission is also considering the possibility of refunding property taxes to businesses in exchange for major infrastructure investments.

Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas said it was high time that county officials stepped up to drive economic growth in the region.

"It is often thought that the county of Los Angeles is almost exclusively about social services and the safety net," Ridley-Thomas said. "Maintaining economically healthy communities, sustainable communities, is the county of Los Angeles' business. It just simply is."

The LAEDC report puts the county's poverty rate at 17.8 percent as of 2014 and found that the county is in the top 1 percent in terms of income equality when compared with all counties nationwide.

Supervisor Sheila Kuehl urged her colleagues to think about training workers for jobs in expanding industries.

"We're going to want to take a look at all of our training programs, not just the county-run ones, but those with whom we contract, to make certain that people are being trained to do things that are 21st century jobs," Kuehl said.

--City News Service, photo via Shutterstock