Two common themes are reflected in the Economic Roundtables current projects as well as new projects being developed: 1) Providing information, strategies and training for effectively addressing income inequality and economic stagnation, which are central and growing problems in the Los Angeles region, and 2) Bringing the voice of the community into policy strategies because communities are the only place where the needs of residents and the solutions to their needs present themselves in an integrated form.  Here is a list of our current and recent projects:

Economic Study of the Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO) and the Local Housing Market

The Economic Roundtable is leading a team of experts to conduct this study for the City of Los Angeles Housing Department.  "In 1979, the City of Los Angeles adopted the Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO) after finding that there was a shortage of decent, safe, and sanitary housing in the City resulting in a critically low vacancy factor. At that time, the City Council determined that it was necessary and reasonable to regulate rents so as to safe guard tenants from excessive rent increases while at the same time providing landlords with just and reasonable returns from their rental units. The City has not conducted a comprehensive assessment of the RSO since 1993. Due to market fluctuations, rising costs, and other economic factors of the last several years, apartment owners, tenants, and government officials alike have suggested that a new large scale review and economic study of the RSO in the context of the local housing market is necessary to determine if the RSO is still meeting its purpose and whether any amendments should be enacted."  Learn more about this twelve month study.
Status: Underway

Child and Family Well Being in L.A. County

This work supports the new "Prenatal Through Three" focus area of First 5 Los Angeles.  Information about the health and well being of Los Angeles County's children age 0-3 and pregnant women includes data tables, maps and presentation slides.  This infomration informs three aspects of F5LA's "Prenatal Through Three" focus area:

• Engagement with expecting mothers, newborns and their families in order to increase health screenings
• Building blocks for strengthening the LA County's capacity for raising healthier young children
• Promoting "baby friendly" neighborhoods across the county

View our library of "Prenatal Through Three" data products: Child and Family Well Being in L.A. County
Status: Underway

Family-Centered Study of Welfare Services

This proposed project will support operational progress in strengthening welfare outcomes for families. Planning began by asking stakeholders what kind of information they need about welfare recipients. One hundred twelve individuals responded with recommendations about research topics, and these recommendations are being used to develop the research plan.
Status: Seeking Underwriting

Local Economic Analysis and Direct Service Projects

• A project for the Community Redevelopment Agency's Wilshire-Koreatown Office to study the prospects for enahncing the number and quality of local jobs available in that porject area, and at two specific study sites.  Status: Underway
• Analysis of Green Technology Energy companies in Los Angeles, determining current job characteristics and prospects for future growth, for the City of Los Angeles Departments of Water and Power, Community Development, and the Community Redevelopment Agency, modeling the benefits accrued to employees and communities from the CRA's social benefit policies.  Status: Underway
• A referral guide for the LA County Office of Education, listing homeless service providers by service planning area, with accompanying reference maps. Status: Initial Project Completed, Updated Version Underway
• A project for the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) of the City of Los Angeles, modeling the benefits accrued to employees and communities from the CRA's social benefit policies.  Status: Completed
• A seven-year program of technical support to the City of Long Beach in analyzing labor market information and the local business environment.   Status: Completed
• A project for the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles to develop, analyze and apply labor market information that will assist Housing Authority residents in preparing for and finding viable employment.  Status: Completed
• Project Paycheck is a pilot program designed to achieve long-term, successful housing, drug recovery and employment outcomes for chronically addicted homeless individuals. The program provides up to one year of housing, case management, integrated services, and realistic opportunities for permanent employment and housing after program completion.  Status: Completed
• A program to train Air Force analysts from bases throughout the United States in using local labor market information to assess the availability of skilled workers to provide support and maintenance services for bases.  Status: Completed
• Needs assessments and program plans for a family center and a homeless drop-in center.  Status: Completed

City of Facades Book Manuscript

The Economic Roundtable is writing a book with the working title, "City of Facades." The book will provide an in-depth analysis of recent economic changes in Los Angeles and the impact these changes have had upon workers and communities. The book will explore how the powerful forces of economic restructuring, income polarization, and migration that are reshaping Los Angeles are germane to understanding the transformation of urban regions throughout the United States.
Status: Seeking Underwriting

City of LA Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy

The Economic Roundtable is assisting the Mayor's Office of Economic Development by providing community-level economic, labor market and demographic information for the City of Los Angeles to support updating the city's Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy. (a.k.a. The LA Economy Project.)
Status: Project Completed

Neighborhood Job Creation and Sustainable Employment for Low Wage Workers

The Economic Roundtable has created fine-grain labor market and employer databases to support neighborhood economic development. The purpose of this project is to link grass roots concerns with research capabilities, technical knowledge, and economic development resources. Within communities it will move sequentially from investigating the skills of local job seekers, to identifying the industries that need those skills, to building consensus among local residents about the kind of jobs should be created and how they should be created, to mobilizing resources to implement local strategies, to recruiting and training local workers to fill newly created jobs. It is designed to build sustainable employment at a neighborhood level, responding to employment possibilities and aspirations of unemployed and low-wage workers in each community. A central premise is that economic development and family well being are closely connected, and by understanding specific workers we give coherence, legitimacy, pragmatism, and long-term viability to job creation initiatives.
Status: Seeking Underwriting and Developing Project Partnerships

Ten-Year Strategic Plan to End Homelessness

The Economic Roundtable is working in collaboration with the Institute for the Study of Homelessness and Poverty at the Weingart Center to assist the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority in preparing a 10-year strategic plan to prevent and eliminate homelessness in Los Angeles County. Visit the Bring LA Home! web site to learn more.
Status: Project Completed

Workshops on Community Economic Analysis

Our workshops on community economic analysis provide a thinking and learning environment in which individuals from interested agencies/organizations can assimilate ideas, build collaborative relationships, and learn how to use economic information to assess the opportunities, risks and benefits of alternative community strategies.

The Economic Roundtable and AGENDA organized the first series of workshops on community economic analysis in 2002. This series focused on the South Los Angeles economy and labor market.

The workshops grow out of the need to build employment and economic development programs in Los Angeles that have a greater impact on helping low-wage workers become economically self-sufficient. An underlying premise is that economic and employment programs can become more coherent and effective if they take into account:

1. local economic strengths,
2. potential linkages between local job seekers and industries paying sustaining wages, and
3. information about the relative risks and opportunities for workers in different industries.

A second series of workshops was held from December 2003 to June 2004 under the auspices of LAANE, and focused on Los Angeles as a whole. This workshop introduced new tools and data sets for analysis, such as the 2000 Census 5% PUMS.
Status: First and Second Workshop Series Completed