Small businesses are the heart of a community and the livelihood of most families. We can assist your small business by...
Establishing more Business Improvement Districts
Expediting permits and licenses
Funding facade improvement, management consulting, and low-cost business improvement loans.
We need to simplify the process for starting and sustaining businesses in Los Angeles. For years, the City has posed unnecessary obstacles to business development. By reducing bureaucratic hurdles we can create an efficient system that supports aspiring business owners. Streamlining, Permitting and departmental approvals should be streamlined into a centralized hub. Businesses should not have to navigate complex systems or hire lobbyists to interact with City departments.
We can create pipelines to the middle class by promoting collaboration between the City of Los Angeles, public entities like the Los Angeles Unified School District and the Los Angeles Community College District, and private employers such as our film and television studios. Apprenticeship programs in partnership with labor organizations can cultivate a new generation of workers, paving the way for meaningful middle-class careers.
Los Angeles is one of America's most expensive cities. The high cost of living here demands that we address wage levels. With the average home price at a million dollars and per capita income of less than $48,000 and median household income less than $82,000, we need to attract businesses that offer skilled jobs and higher wages. We can collaborate with employers to ensure that Angelenos earn a living wage. We must make it possible for Angelenos not only to survive but to thrive in L.A.
FORM A BID (BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT)
I encourage more neighborhoods to form Business Improvement Districts. These nonprofit cooperative associations enable business owners to share maintenance, sanitation, security and other services they might not be able to afford individually. The City Clerk's website has more information on how your neighborhood can form its own Business Improvement District (BID).
JEDI ZONES
The City's Jobs and Economic Development Incentive (JEDI) Zones program was designed to revitalize struggling business districts with low-interest loans, management consulting and façade improvements. Council District 2 secured a JEDI Zone designation for a southern stretch of Lankershim Boulevard. In June 2026 we joined our partners from the LA Neighborhood Initiative and the Economic and Workforce Development Department to celebrate the completion of the JEDI program's first-ever project in Los Angeles — eight businesses along Lankershim Blvd. that have received inviting new façade treatments.
SECURING FEDERAL GRANTS FOR LOCAL BUSINESSES
The Microenterprise Recovery Grant program provided grants of $10,000 to $15,000 to eligible micro-enterprises in the City of Los Angeles that needed financial assistance to recover from effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The grants were funded by Community Development Block Grants awarded to the City by the federal government under the CARES Act, enacted during the pandemic. My staff and I raised awareness of this program and assisted local businesses in applying for these grants, funded by the federal government but administered by the City's Economic and Workforce Development Department. In April 2026 I was able to present the grants in person to half a dozen awardees. Although this program is over, my office is now identifying potential awardees of the City's Legacy Business program, assisting enterprises with deep roots in the community.