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The Weekly Newspaper of Lawndale
Career Fair for Centinela Valley
Lawndale High School students ask career development questions of one of the business representatives who attended the first annual Career Fair Feb. 7 presented by the South Bay Workforce Investment
Board and Centinela Valley Union High School District. More than 200 11th and 12th graders participated in the event. Photo Provided by SBWIB
Flight Industries Land Major Vote
of Confidence to Stay Competitive
By Rob McCarthy
South Bay’s space and air defense
companies are one step closer to having a
state commission to make sure their industry
remains competitive and stays grounded in
California.
Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, D-Torrance,
introduced a measure to create a California
Aerospace and Aviation Commission. Its
purpose would be to advise policymakers
about what the $100 billion flight and
defense sector in the state’s economy needs
from state elected officials. The commission
would “serve as a central point of contact”
for the flight and space mission companies
and “support the health and competitiveness”
of the businesses -- including those in the
South Bay -- that form the backbone of the
aerospace and aviation industries in California,
according to the bill.
The Assembly voted 75-0 to create a
commission dedicated to smoothing the way
for the industry’s growth as the nation sets
its sights toward missions to Mars someday.
The 15-member commission would operate
without taxpayer dollars and be overseen by
the Governor’s Office.
“The goal is to bring together the
stakeholders and bring together policy
recommendations so we can continue to
grow and lead the nation and the world in
innovation, advanced manufacturing and job
creation,” Muratsuchi said last month as the
bill was advancing in the Assembly.
The advisory commission would have 15
members, with nine being appointed by the
governor to represent aviation and aerospace
companies, their suppliers and labor unions.
The other members would be selected
for expertise in economic development,
transportation and higher education. Members
would serve for two years and be limited to
three terms.
Muratsuchi said he spent a year working
on his bill and building support among
Sacramento lawmakers. He is chairman of
the California Assembly’s Select Committee
on Aerospace.
California held nearly one-tenth of the
combined space and aircraft market in the
world in 2016, according to the bill. The
aerospace industry is “being challenged” by
foreign competitors with emerging economies
and the technology they lacked in the past.
The commission-creation measure says the
state must prepare in case of military base
closures by the Department of Defense and
shifts in funding priorities by NASA.
Florida has enticed at least one California
aerospace company to relocate, and industry
leaders say that Space Florida has the money
and clout with lawmakers that is lacking
here. Sean Casey, managing director of the
Silicon Valley Space Center, told an industry
publication that other states take a more
aggressive approach to convincing companies
to leave California.
The Assembly’s full-throated endorsement
of a California Aerospace and Aviation
Commission delivered a message that it’s
taking the challenge by Space Florida
very seriously. Judy Kruger, who oversees
aerospace sector activities at the Los
Angeles Economic Development Corporation
(LAEDC) had high praise and hopes that
the commission will become a reality soon.
The Assembly vote was a small step for
the South Bay players in aerospace, which
according to the bill is among California’s
largest industries and employers. It generates
$140 billion per year within the state, making
it a global leader, according to figures provided
to the Legislature.
The state Senate still must vote on the
measure, and the governor needs to sign
the bill. The momentum so far in the lower
chamber in Sacramento is one small step for
California, and one giant leap for a South
Bay industry that designs, builds and supports
air and space travel.
“The state hears and sees what’s happening
in the industry and wants to protect it and
grow it,” Kruger said, adding “it also sends
a message outside the state of California.”
Texas, Georgia and Michigan are moving
forward to create commissions, which the
LAEDC says are completely dedicated to
growing their states’ aerospace industries.
The work envisioned for the California body
will be to market the state’s tax and business
climate at industry events where other states
will have a presence.
The LAEDC has backed the bill to create a
California commission to protect against states
looking to “poach our aerospace assets,” it
says. The bill got another huge lift right after
the Assembly voted: SpaceX in Hawthorne
successfully launched its powerful Falcon
Heavy into space. The company calls its
Falcon Heavy the most powerful rocket in
service today, able to carry a fully loaded
and fueled 737 jetliner weighing 141,000
pounds into orbit.
The Legislature lately has shown a
willingness to help defense contractors to be
competitive in bidding for federal contracts.
Lawmakers in 2014 supported an enhanced
tax credit and tax exemption for Lockheed
Martin and Northrop Grumman, both of whom
were competing for federal Department of
Defense contracts.
In 2016, the Legislature again approved a
tax measure favorable to defense and aerospace
manufacturers. Lawmakers extended a sales
and use tax exemption on manufacturing
equipment.
Aerospace is prized by state and local
lawmakers because average salaries top
$100,000 and contractors and their suppliers
create manufacturing jobs -- some of which
require a high school diploma. The demand
for workers with technical skills is expected
to grow in the Los Angeles metro area,
according to a recent LAEDC report about
the future of work in the region. •
AND lAwNDAle News
Herald Publications - Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale, El Segundo, Torrance & Manhattan Beach Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 - February 22, 2018