Small businesses in the L.A. area can get on the fast track to revenue from the state’s high-speed rail project.
As the California High-Speed Rail Authority prepares for construction in Southern California, it is hosting three workshops here to help such businesses start the process to become state contractors for the rail project.
They are designed to help the agency meet its goal of having 30 percent of project work done by small businesses, explained Alice Rodriguez, small-business advocate for the authority.
“These goals are more aggressive than other state agencies,” Rodriguez said. “We see it as a priority to ensure that small businesses work on the project.”
Workshops are scheduled for Jan. 15 in Pacoima; Jan. 21 in Los Angeles and Jan. 22 in Lancaster. All sessions run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The California Department of General Services, one of three small-business certifying agencies that the authority uses, will be in attendance to certify appropriate businesses on site. Small businesses should bring federal and state tax paperwork and a computer.
“That’s the easiest (state) certification to get your feet wet,” added Rodriguez.
One requirement is that a business employs 100 or less people and generates no more than $14 million in annual revenue, according to the authority.
The rail project, which is estimated to clear environmental requirements for the Southern California portion by the end of next year, has opportunities for myriad businesses, Rodriguez said, such as suppliers of construction materials, water or office supplies, or those that provide services including demolition, aerial surveys, surveying, communications and public relations.
“When businesses come to the workshop, I can always find a place they will fit into a project,” she said.
Trade Grab
California’s share of total goods coming into and leaving the country continues to top other states – for now.
November data analyzed by the California Center for Jobs and the Economy in Sacramento shows that trade through the state’s sea- and airports accounted for 17.6 percent of total dollar value of trade. The state’s top competitor, Texas, moved 16.9 percent of America’s goods, while New York state and New Jersey moved 14.6 percent combined.
That share fell compared with a year ago in November when California moved 17.7 percent of the nation’s goods, said Mike Kahoe, an economist with the center. The data was from the Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Numbers have improved since February when the share of goods traded within the state – 17.4 percent – dropped below that of Texas, which moved 17.8 percent.
“It shows we’re still not at the level we were a year ago, but again on an upward trend,” Kahoe said.
Locally, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach imported trade in November worth a total of $24.7 billion, with $19.6 billion handled by the Port of Los Angeles alone. That trumps its closest competitor, the seaport in Newark, N.J., which brought in imported goods worth $11.8 billion.
Kahoe sees the most pressing and direct competition to California ports as those in Mexico and Canada, which are both expanding their infrastructure, he said. Shipping companies from Asia could land there first before going on to California, meaning those ports would move the majority of that cargo.
“Part of why Los Angeles and Long Beach grew so much is they became the first port of landing,” Kahoe said.
Star Ship
In typical L.A. fashion, the city greeted the CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin – the biggest container ship to visit a North American port – like a Hollywood celebrity.
The ship was met at the Port of Los Angeles on Dec. 26 with its own press conference of politicians, representatives from labor unions and federal agencies as well as top executives from the ship’s owner, CMA CGM Group.
Officials rode out to greet the ship in a pilot boat in predawn hours and then rode it into the APM Terminal, where it berthed. About 300 people took waterside tours of the ship over the next three days.
“It was a magnificent ride into port and I was honored to be part of the event,” port Executive Director Gene Seroka said during a Board of Harbor Commissioners meeting Thursday.
The ship is also the subject of an Instagram photo contest by CMA CGM, and three winners will get to visit the ship when it visits the Port of Long Beach in mid-February. The winners will be announced Feb. 21, according to the company.
The megavessel, capable of carrying 18,000 shipping containers, was about 80 percent full, according to the Port of Los Angeles. Unloading and loading it took nine cranes, which made about 11,200 moves over the course of 56 hours.
The ship was scheduled to depart Dec. 30 but actually left a day earlier to sail to the Port of Oakland, according to port officials.
Staff reporter Carol Lawrence can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 237.
