Select LA Investment Summit 2022 Recap  

On June 23rd, the World Trade Center’s Select LA Investment Summit presented its 7th annual event designed to help investors, domestic leaders, and international businesses exchange insights about growing opportunities in sustainability throughout the LA region. In partnership with Mayor Garcetti’s Office of International Affairs and Select USA, the event centered around dozens of large-scale and high-profile trends in Electric Vehicles, Hydrogen as Fuel, Circular Economy and Climate Infrastructure. The 2022 event provided the platform to discuss how governmental policy, sustainability mandates, technology demands, and green requirements present new international public-private partnership opportunities.   

All summit attendees were invited to the June 22nd opening reception of the summit to mix and mingle at one of the most exciting movie studios in the United States, the LA Center Studios in downtown LA. Attendees had the opportunity to witness a breakthrough hydrogen cooling technology for data centers recently deployed by Intel and learn about the zero waste growth plans of hotel and media company not only retrofitting to greener solutions but building with born-green technology. 

Well underway after Mayor Garcetti’s Green New Deal, Los Angeles is showcasing itself as the global epicenter of green initiatives and climate infrastructure goals for the next generation. Opportunities and challenges for infrastructure, mobility, electrification of land and air vehicles, circular economies in real estate, power sources, hospitality and other critical facets of sustainability are driving major transitions in Los Angeles. Los Angeles’ leadership, mandates, programs and projects are driving new innovation, new technologies, new companies, new investment, new deployment models, and new markets.   

Because of the deep talent pool, government support, and history of innovation in sustainability, Los Angeles is already a globally recognized center for all this activity that will lead to extraordinary opportunities to a global market.  All this activity serves to create well-paying jobs in the Los Angeles region, while advancing LAEDC’s goals for sustainability, resilience, equity and more widely shared economic growth.  

 Stephen Cheung, President of WTCLA and COO of LAEDC introduced the speakers and thanked Select USA and Mayor Garcetti’s Office of International Affairs at City of Los Angeles for their support of this virtual event.  

Steve Olson, Partner of O’Melveny & Myers and Chair, WTCLA Board of Advisors explained how he created Select USA during his tenure in the Obama administration, moved back to LA where he and Mayor Garcetti created Select LA as the first spinoff event of Select USA. Steve then introduced the current Executive Director of Select USA Jasjit Singh.   

Opening Remarks  

There are 88 cities and over 100 unincorporated areas within the County of Los Angeles that cover 4,752 square miles with over 10 million residents. These regions are served and represented by influential governmental agencies, policy makers and elected officials from local, state and federal governmental departments and offices. The visions and policy directions from our governmental partners can have a direct impact on our local economies but can also reverberate to transform the international economy due to the outsized influence of Los Angeles and our powerful industries. During this session we heard from our local, state and federal governmental representatives about their vision to help elevate Los Angeles and our businesses on the global stage.  

  • Jasjit Singh, Executive Director of Select USA, spoke about how Select LA is the foremost spinoff event of the US Department of Commerce’s Select USA event.      

  • Emily Desai, Deputy Director of International Affairs & Trade, California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development 

  • Bill Allen, CEO of Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation 

  • Mayor Robert Garcia, City of Long Beach  

  • Holly Mitchell, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, District 2  

  • Christine Peterson, Director of International Trade & Investment for the Mayor of Los Angeles 

Morning Plenary: Setting the Stage for a Sustainable Global Economy  

As the top proving ground for new technology, Los Angeles is the premier region for a sustainable global climate economy. There are tremendous possibilities, trends and challenges as LA expands our hydrogen network, develops green infrastructure, grows our electric vehicle ecosystem, and continues the advancement of circular economies to reduce waste. These aren't “hot topic” issues, they are realities and opportunities to upgrade old wasteful technology with cleaner and more stable technology. The opportunities are more insulated from volatile markets, environmentally responsible, and make economic sense. Businesses and investors across the globe know that Southern California is the leader in deploying innovative tech and the largest entry point into the U.S. market, and top business, government and industry leaders helped us understand why Los Angeles is the proving ground for national and international investments.  

  • Travis Kiyota, SVP & Head of Global Corporate Affairs, East West Bank  

  • Olabisi Boyle, VP of Product Planning and Mobility Strategy, Hyundai North America 

  • Maryam Brown, President, Southern California Gas

  • Terry Tamminen, President & CEO, AltaSea  

Morning Breakout Session: Electric Vehicles  

California dominates the Electric Vehicle space in all aspects. From air to land vehicles, personal to ridesharing, delivery vans to trucks, EV applications continue to revolutionize a booming industry and critical societal need. The opportunities arise from the need to build out the infrastructure and create the new EV future. In this session, we discussed the continued growth of electric transportation and goods movement, the increased economic benefits for consumers and businesses and the generation of hundreds of thousands of new jobs in the region. 

  • Moderator: Dana Heatherton, Head of Dense Urban Market Operations, Waymo 

  • Brook Taylor, VP of Government Relations and Strategic Partnerships, VinFast US 

  • Stella Li, President, BYD 

  • George Kivork, Head of U.S. State & Local Policy, Joby Aviation 

Breakout Session: Hydrogen as Fuel  

Hydrogen fuel is a vital part of California’s work to achieve its aggressive climate change goals, improve air quality, and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. The recent federal Infrastructure Bill includes $9.5B for the hydrogen industry, another boost for LA’s proliferating hydrogen sector. Beyond just consumer vehicles, we discussed the large-scale deployment of investment and innovation and the industrial and economic potential in revolutionizing manufacturing and production. From heavy duty trucks to fueling stations and buildings to cities, this session we explored the economic opportunities of developing a hydrogen pipeline from production to usage with the region’s readily available hydrogen sources. 

  • Moderator: Brian Goldstein, Executive Director, Energy Independence Now 

  • Takehito Yokoo, Senior Executive Engineer, Toyota & Chairman, Japan Hydrogen Forum 

  • Christopher Cannon, Director of Environmental Management and Chief Sustainability Officer, Port of Los Angeles 

Luncheon Session  

Mayor Garcetti, Dee Meyers, Alice Neuhauser, and Rob Swagger provided remarks during lunch about why businesses should select Los Angeles and California. Dr. Richard Tang then presented research from Loyola Marymount University’s Center for International Business Education about why business location matters. 

  • US Senator Alex Padilla 

  • Keynote #1: Dee Dee Myers, Sr Advisor to Governor Gavin Newsom and Director of Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, State of California  

  • Keynote#2: Eric Garcetti, Mayor, City of Los Angeles  

  • Keynote #3: Alice Neuhauser, CFO Seismic Capital and President Gramarye Media and Rob Swagger, CEO of TrendEx Group 

  • 2022 FDI Report Presentation: Dr. Richard Tang, Loyola Marymount University. Click here to view Dr. Tang’s presentation. To view the 2022 WTCLA Foreign Direct Investment Report, please click here.

Afternoon Breakout Session: Mobility: Climate Infrastructure   

With recent federal investment of $550 billion into infrastructure, the opportunities of green infrastructure projects in LA are accelerating. From improving our goods movement ecosystem to expanding public transportation, Los Angeles is the new innovation and investment hub for sustainable infrastructure projects. As a global hub for the goods movement economy and international trade, we embrace the opportunity to meet the world’s demands for infrastructure that is efficient and sustainable for the planet. In this session, we discussed the challenges and opportunities in upgrading Los Angeles’ green and blue infrastructure and the need for international and strategic partnerships to create jobs and economic growth. 

  • Moderator: Joel Farrier, Regional Manager of Environmental Group, California, Burns & McDonnell  

  • Michael Bushey, Director of Business Customer Division, Southern California Edison  

  • Leilani Vella, Market Access Program Manager, Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) 

  • William Bridge, CEO, Global Green-USA 

Afternoon Breakout Session: Circular Economy  

A circular economy is the systematic rebuilding of the economy to encourage the continued use of resources. Core elements of circularity are embedded within key urban systems including water, housing, infrastructure, and food. In a circular economy, resources are kept at their highest potential for as long as possible, through reusing, repairing, remanufacturing, and recycling. This economic model can increase the resilience of cities and companies by improving the ability to adapt to negative external environmental and market disruptions. In this session, we discussed how public-private partnerships, neighborhood initiatives, and the international exchange of knowledge can achieve an economy that creates less waste from the resources that already exist.  

  • Moderator: John Short, CEO, Boomer Commodities & CEO, Steel Derivatives  

  • Cynthia Coulter, Senior Manager, Hanil Eco Solutions, Inc.  

  • Jan Top, Senior Advisor for Infrastructure and Water Management, Netherlands Consulate San Francisco  

  • Anita Sokolsky, Senior Manager of Infrastructure Advisory Group, CBIZ 

Afternoon Plenary Session: Post Game Analysis: The Legacy of Mega Events   

Home to the world’s third largest consular corps, with over 100 countries represented, Los Angeles is the national leader in global commerce and the center for international interconnectivity. This session featured the Consul Generals from three key countries that have strong presence and influence in the Los Angeles region and throughout the nation. Representing the perspectives from three continents, the Consul Generals shared their perspectives on the international trends and opportunities to work with, and in, Los Angeles as we build out the most sustainable and innovative future that will continue to impact the rest of the world.  

  • Moderator: Stephen Cheung, President of WTCLA 

  • Emily Cloke, British Consul General in Los Angeles  

  • Marcela Celorio, Consul General of Mexico in Los Angeles  

  • Akira Muto, Consul General of Japan in Los Angeles