Long Beach Economic Partnership

Small business:lbep persevered through the pandemic. With the ongoing support of wells fargo, union bank, the lbcf and the city, we provided ongoing assistance and financial grants to many small businesses to help them endure through the pandemic. Lbep supported small business training, mentoring and provided micro-grants direct to business.

Aam:building upon the Long Beach legacy of aerospace innovation, lbep recently announced a Partnership with wisk aero, developer of the first all-electric, self-flying air taxi in the united states. Lbep formed the advanced air mobility task force, to engage businesses, local government and community leaders to study the feasibility of bringing aam to southern California.

Santa fe corridor improvement:thanks to a grant from prologis, lbep has collaborated with the community in the santa fe corridor to make it safer, more beautiful, and easier for small businesses to attract customers by providing direct grants for storefront improvements, public art, community clean up days, and a neighborhood garden.

Digital divide:with seed funding from the Long Beach community foundation, lbep is providing technology training and 1-on-1 coaching to local small businesses, as well as grant funding to help owners pay for the tools they really need. Whether that's a new pos system for contactless payments, paid social media ads, or accounting software subscriptions we'll help local businesses get the training and capital they need.more recently, lbep, in collaboration with cal state university Long Beach, has prepared Economic research white papers that have supported myriad sectors of the Long Beach economy from healthcare to aerospace.

Economic forum:over the last two years, the Long Beach Economic Partnership (lbep) has hosted the Economic forum online, with speakers from across industry sectors and virtual guests from all over the country and around the world. These events have directly led to investment right here in our city. With this in mind the lbep, in collaboration with California state university Long Beach (csulb) and the city of Long Beach, is pleased to bring you this year's accelerate Long Beach Economic forum, back in person at the Long Beach convention center. Lead economist robert kleinhenz will report on Economic trends including consumer spending, housing, trade and employment, and his Economic outlook will provide information business leaders need to plan and prepare for the months ahead. Representatives from the city and its partners will share their thoughts on where we're headed and how we can increase opportunities throughout our region and our business community.