Charting an Inclusive Regional Recovery
Virtual Event
Tuesday, December 1, 2020
More than 400 leaders in business, public policy, housing and
education joined online for the 11th Annual Southern California
Economic Summit. This year’s program took a serious look at the
strategies needed for building back a strong, inclusive Southern
California economy and featured forecasts from the region’s top
economists.
U.S. Representative Karen Bass delivered an opening address that
laid out an optimistic view about what is to come for Southern
California. Bina Shrimali from the Federal Reserve Bank of San
Francisco gave a presentation on the importance of building a
healthy and inclusive economy, one in which all can participate,
prosper, and reach their full potential.
Wallace Walrod, SCAG’s Chief Economic Advisor, provided a
comprehensive overview of the region’s economy, noting that much
progress has been made in the recovery from the pandemic so far,
but much work is left to do. The Regional Briefing Book on the
Southern California economy was also released to provide the
first step toward a more comprehensive framework for an inclusive
economic recovery.
The panel session – moderated by Kate Gordon, Director of the
Governor’s Office of Planning & Research and featuring Costa Mesa
City Manager, Lori Ann Farrell Harrison, Long Beach City Manager,
Tom Modica and Cherian George of Fitch Ratings – led to a lively
discussion about what cities need to be considering and why when
it comes to planning for a resilient local economy and
government. The panel was followed-up by breakout discussions
about improving access to good jobs, led by Karthick Ramakrishnan
and Michael Bates of UC Riverside; access to affordable housing,
led by Cecilia Estolano of Estolano Advisors; and access to
transportation, led by Evelyn Blumenberg of UCLA.
In the summit’s keynote address, three-time Pulitzer
Prize-winning New York Times columnist, Thomas Friedman made a
case for reimagining the intersection of government, private
industry and other stakeholders to come together to create
solutions. He stressed the need for “complex adaptive coalitions”
as changes in climate, new technology and globalization further
complicate the problems we all face. Like U.S. Representative
Bass, Mr. Friedman ended his address on a hopeful note and noted
that inclusivity is necessary for our cities, region, state and
country to thrive.
Sharing the important messages from the summit, we had news
coverage from the
Los Angeles Daily News,
KVCR and
Spectrum News 1.
