BOARD OF DIRECTORS
PRESIDENT
CHRIS HOGAN
TREASURER
BETTY MCKINNEY
SECRETARY
STEVE GILLIS-MOORE
VP ADVOCACY
LOUISE IVERS
CO-VPS BEMBRIDGE HOUSE
SHEILA GIBBONS
ALAN GIOMI
VP EDUCATION
JOE MELLO
VP FUND DEVELOPMENT
JACQUELINE PADILLA-PEREZ
VP MEMBERSHIP
KIM CAMPANELLI
BOARD MEMBERS
JACQUELINE CASE
RICK HOBBS SEELEY
CHERYL PERRY
April 11, 2023
The Honorable Rex Richardson and City Council
Long Beach City Hall
411 W. Ocean Boulevard
Long Beach, CA 90802
Dear Mayor Richardson and City Council Members,
On behalf of the Board of Directors, I want to express our gratitude and strong support for the April 11th motion to establish a City of Long Beach Legacy Business Registry and Program.
For over 40 years, Long Beach Heritage , a non -profit organization supported by members and volunteers, has worked hard to recognize, provide education on, and advocate for Long Beach’s historic resources. We believe, as Long Beach and other communities throughout the country and world do, that historic resources, including these long-time “legacy” businesses, provide value to one’s community, a commodity that cannot easily be created.
Legacy Business programs that had been developed in Europe, and introduced in San Francisco and San Antonio, had come to our attention prior to the pandemic, spurring our effort to honor such businesses in Long Beach in 2022. As the motion indicates, we provide business promotion, but are limited in the types of services that we can provide.
In cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles, non -profit heritage organizations started legacy business pilot projects, which were t hen developed into full -fledged economic development initiatives hosted by those cities . As city -run programs, they have been able to offer additional services such as technical assistance, lease and acquisition assistance, and grants.
We concur with Mayor Richardson , Vice Mayor Allen, and Councilmember Zendejas that Long Beach’s long-time businesses would greatly benefit from a full-fledged Legacy Business program, to help such businesses recover from the pandemic and navigate the “post-Covid” environment, and spur economic development and tourism opportunities. We stand ready to help in any way that we can.
With appreciation,
Manuel Valenzuela
Acting Executive Director
Long Beach Heritage