Chamber Endorses
Gerding Edlen Project
The Hollywood
Chamber Board of Directors voted this week to
endorse the Sunset & Gordon project, proposed by
developers Gerding Edlen. The project, will
include 301 condos, 40,000-sq.ft. of creative
office space, and 13,500-sq.ft. of neighborhood
serving retail, as well as a half-acre park. The
board was impressed with the work that has gone
into the design of the project, which will have
20 percent of the units dedicated as workforce
housing to serve clientele such as teachers,
police and firefighters. Its
pedestrian-friendly design will have
significantly wider sidewalks than normal,
ranging in widths from 16 ft. to 29 ft. It will
also be the first Leed Gold certified building
in Hollywood, a special designation for projects
that are environmentally sensitive. The
existing Old Spaghetti Factory building will be
restored to its historic 1920s appearance as the
Peerless Motor Cars showroom. The developers are
hoping for a groundbreaking in the first quarter
of 2008.
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Reduce
taxes with Enterprise Zone Tax Credits
Women of Distinction
Luncheon Most Successful Ever
 The
14th Annual Women of Distinction
Awards Luncheon raised more than any single
Hollywood Chamber Community Foundation event is
history. $100,040.00 was raised to support and
advance local educational, cultural and economic
programs in (and aiding people in) the Hollywood
area.
Laurie Goldman of
GO! Goldman Organization and Maureen Schultz of
Capitol Records were the indefatigable Co-Chairs
of this record-breaking event. “The dedication
and hard work put in by these two women was
inspiring!” remarked chamber staff member,
Elizabeth McDonald.
 The
Co-Chairs and the Community Foundation would
like to thank everyone who aided them in
reaching this goal - in particular, the
Community Redevelopment Agency, which was a
Platinum Sponsor but did not receive recognition
in the program.
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Health Policy Adopted by
Chamber
 One
of the most-discussed issues in Sacramento this
year is related to health coverage. At this
week’s Board meeting, the Chamber adopted some
guiding principles relative to health policy.
They included support for the principle of
achieving reform through a comprehensive
public/private partnership and shared
responsibility that includes all parties – both
public and private sector and individuals. In
addition, the Chamber supported the expansion of
the California Healthy Families program. A
position of concern was adopted relative to the
Governor’s proposal requiring a four percent
business payroll fee from businesses that do not
provide health care coverage for their
employees. The chamber believes that percentage
is insufficient to adequately fund state
mandated benefits and would provide a perverse
incentive for businesses to discontinue their
existing employer-based coverage.
Hollywood Renaissance
Garners Media Attention
The renaissance
of Hollywood continues to garner international
media attention, with very favorable coverage.
A story in this week’s London Financial Times
reported on the planned opening in Hollywood by
Tesco of their Fresh n’ Easy grocery store at
the former Galaxy
complex.
Another story ran in the May issue of
Shopping Center Business, one of the major
retail/shopping center trade publications in the
nation, entitled Turning Tinseltown Around.
Read the story here.
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Save the Date for
Hollywood Economic
Development Summit
The Chamber’s
popular annual Economic Development Summit is
slated for Thursday, June 21st, from
8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at Arclight Hollywood.
This year’s theme is Sunrise on Sunset,
and will focus on the exciting developments
planned along Sunset Blvd. Major speakers
include Council President Eric Garcetti, CRA/LA
CEO
Cecilia Estolano, and L.A. City Planner Gail
Goldberg. There will also be a panel of
prominent players in the revitalization of
Sunset Blvd. Invitations will be in the mail
after the Memorial Day weekend, but mark your
calendars now to save the date. A special added
feature this year will be the flexcar.
To encourage people to try mass transit and to
announce the inauguration of the flexcar
program in Hollywood, persons taking the subway
can get off at the Hollywood & Highland station
where flexcars will be waiting to take
them to the Summit and later return them to the
station. In the photo taken this week, Chamber
chair Jeff Briggs, joins Economic Development
co-chair Brian Folb and Margaret Kemp of
flexcar at this week’s “Bike to Work Week”
pit stop at 6565 Sunset Blvd.
Reserve Online at
www.hollywoodchamber.net
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That’s Hot! -
Chamber’s Monthly Mixer at Hilton
 Located
high on the hillside of Universal City, the
luxurious Hilton Los Angeles / Universal City
Hotel (Hilton Universal) will host the Chamber’s
May 31st Business After Hours Mixer.
The Hilton Los Angeles / Universal City is
located at 555 Universal Hollywood Drive in
Universal City. The Mixer will be held in the
Sierra Ballroom B on Thursday, May 31st
from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Admission is $10 for
members, $20 for non-members, and self parking
will be discounted to $7 ($12 for valet). Two
beverages and hors d'eourves are included with
admission. Please RSVP to
vivian@hollywoodchamber.net.
Hilton Universal is a
perfect location for events and celebrations of
all kinds, including holiday parties and wedding
receptions. Amenities also include dining at
Café Sierra and the Lobby Lounge, a health club,
heated outdoor pool (with whirlpool), and
24-hour room service. For more information and
reservations about the Hilton Universal Hotel
please call (818)509-2058 or visit
www.universalcity.hilton.com.
Reserve Online at
www.hollywoodchamber.net
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Short
Takes
 We
are proud to announce that Chamber Senior Vice
President Todd Lindgren and his wife, Sara, are
the proud parents of a little girl, born on
Wednesday. They have named her Sasha, and she
came in at 19 inches in length and 6 lbs., 14
ounces. Congratulations from us all!!!
On Thursday,
Sunset-Gower Studios held a ceremony dedicating
a building to honor legendary film/tv assistant
director Abby Singer. Singer started his career
at the studio in 1946. He became famous for
persuading his film crew into thinking the
second-to-last shot of the day was actually the
last shot. Over time, the second-to-last shot
became known throughout the industry as the Abby
Singer Shot – or sometimes shortened to The
Abby.
RFP Process for Hollywood Central Park Underway
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has been
working with the Community Redevelopment Agency
to begin work on an initial feasibility study
that will investigate the possibility of
building atop the 101 Freeway in Hollywood to
construct a "cap" park. After a solid year of
working on this project, the Hollywood Chamber
of Commerce is proud to announce that CRA/LA
initiated the RFP process. For more information on
Hollywood Freeway Central Park, visit the
project website at
www.hollywoodfreewaycentralpark.org or call
Rochelle Silsbee, Vice-President of Public
Policy at (323) 468-1379.
To view the entire proposal, please go to
http://cra.crala.org click on CRA Web Site,
click on Jobs and Contracting Opportunities,
click on the RFPs, RFQs and Bids, RFP NP 3536 -
Feasibility Study - Hollywood Central Park "Cap
Park".
Proposal Due Date: June 18, 2007
Hollywood
Chamber of Commerce
7018 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood,
CA 90028
RSVP to Flora O'Brien
Contact Flora O'Brien - Contracts Officer
(213) 977-1833 -
fobrien@cra.lacity.org
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All you need to know about
Hollywood Chamber's Mission to China
Free
business counseling at the Hollywood Chamber
Offered by the Service Corps of Retired
Executives (SCORE)
Richard Krelstein, a retired business
turn-around specialist
Consulting services will be available most
Fridays 9:30 - 11:30 am To schedule an
appointment, call Vivian at (323)469-8311.
Hollywood & Highland Center
Shuttle Service for WICKED
SplashBash2:
Register to become a stakeholder
SplashBash 2,
co-hosted by Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood
Council and Hollywood and Highland, is the second
annual outreach event for the Hollywood Hills
West Neighborhood Council. If you live, work,
worship or volunteer in the Hollywood area you
can register to become a stakeholder and attend
this great event. This free stakeholder event is
hosted by Hollywood & Highland Center's Central
Courtyard on June 21 from 7pm to 9pm. Dance
under the stars to the music of Louie Cruz
Beltran and his Latin Jazz Orchestra, enjoy food
from The Grill, Vert, Trastevere, Koji's and
Twist while mingling with your neighbors. When
you register with the HHWNC, you will
participate in the decisions affecting your
community.
To register, log on to
www.hhwnc.org.
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