SCAG Hosts Southern California Economic Recovery & Job Creation Summit

LOS ANGELES - Dec. 4, 2013 - PRLog -- Contact:   Darin Chidsey

         (213) 236-1836/ chidsey@scag.ca.gov (mailto:stevelambert2020@gmail.com)

         Steve Lambert, The 20/20 Network

         (909) 841-7527/ steve@the2020network.com

WHAT: 300 top decision makers from business, education and public policy gather to find solutions to Southern California’s economic challenges as SCAG hosts its 4^th Annual Economic Recovery & Job Creation Summit.

WHEN: Thursday, December 5, 2013, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

WHERE: Omni Los Angeles Hotel, 251 S. Olive St., Los Angeles

STORY LINES, PHOTO/VIDEO/INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITES:

·         Though employment has improved in Southern California since the depths the recession, the region has not replaced the quality – or salary levels – of the 1.3 million jobs that we lost from 2007-2010. This has accelerated the rate of poverty throughout the region. Today, 3.2 million residents in the six-county SCAG region live in poverty, up from 1.9 million in 1990.

·         Regulatory and environmental hurdles are impeding the region’s, and state’s, ability to emerge from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

·         Southern California’s vital goods movement industry – which represents one-third of all jobs and economic activity throughout the region – is at considerable risk unless urgent attention and priority are given to transportation-infrastructure improvements.

The region’s top economists will be on hand at the Summit to discuss results of their regional and market-by-market economic forecasts, copies of which will be available.

Key speakers include Darrell Steinberg, President pro Tempore of the California State Senate. Also available for interviews: Hasan Ikhrata, Executive Director of SCAG; Greg Pettis, President of SCAG; Dr. Wallace Walrod, Chief Economic Advisor to the Orange County Business Council; and local/regional leaders from throughout the six-county region.

For more information on the Summit, please visit www.scag.ca.gov.

About SCAG

SCAG is the nation’s largest metropolitan planning organization, representing six counties, 191 cities and more than 18 million residents. SCAG undertakes a variety of planning and policy initiatives to plan for a livable and sustainable Southern California now and in the future. For more information about SCAG’s regional efforts, please visit www.scag.ca.gov.