Bruins Helping Bruins: Resources for Small Businesses Impacted by the L.A. Wildfires
Date and Time
- Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, 10 a.m. PDT
Location
- Zoom
Cost
- Free
The L.A. Wildfires have impacted many in Los Angeles, and small businesses faced immense challenges. Join this informational webinar for small business owners to learn about resources, programs and initiatives that you can utilize to recover and rebuild. Hear from UCLA alumni and small business advocacy leaders on how to navigate this challenging time. The webinar is open to Bruins and anyone in the Los Angeles community looking for insights. It will be recorded and a short Q&A will be at the end of the session. You can submit questions in your RSVP.
Moderator:
Jaime Nack ’98, M.P.P. ’02, President, Three Squares Inc.
Jaime Nack is the president of Three Squares, Inc., a cutting-edge sustainability consulting firm specializing in developing comprehensive sustainability plans for corporate entities, government agencies and academic institutions. Nack is one of the nation’s most prominent environmental experts and has advised many Fortune 500 companies, cities and large-scale events. Most notably, Nack served as the Director of Sustainability and Greening Operations for the 2008 Democratic National Convention, marking the first time in history where measures were taken to reduce the environmental impact of the event on the host city. Nack led TSI’s efforts to become the first firm in the U.S. to earn certification to ISO 20121. In 2018, Nack served as the Director of Sustainability for the Global Climate Action Summit – co-chaired by California Governor Jerry Brown, Michael Bloomberg, UNFCCC’s Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa and Anand Mahindra.
Speakers:
Jesse Torres ’98 , Managing Partner, ArroyoWest
Jesse Torres is founder and managing partner of ArroyoWest LLC, a minority-owned management consulting firm headquartered in California. ArroyoWest clients include major economic development agencies, community colleges, chambers of commerce, corporations and other organizations. Their projects have ranged from helping to stand up COVID-19 relief programs for small businesses to helping to devise strategy for the implementation of regional workforce initiatives. Torres is also the co-founder and president of Small Business Front Inc., a community building and media startup focused on small business, and he is the creator and co-host of the entrepreneurship podcast "Hack My Business."
Before starting ArroyoWest and Small Business Front, Torres served as Small Business Advocate for the State of California and Deputy Director of Small Business and Innovation for Governor Brown’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz). During his three-year tenure at GO-Biz, he was successful in securing more than $108 million in state general funds to provide match and capacity building grants for the federal small business technical assistance providers operating in California that were subsequently made permanent in 2022.
Torres is a chair for the California Association for Micro Enterprise Opportunity, member of the Board for Union Station Homeless Services and is a Commissioner for the City of Los Angeles Small Business Commission. He received his MBA from Pepperdine University and B.A. in psychology from UCLA.
Pat Nye, Executive Director, Los Angeles Regional SBDC Network
Pat Nye leads the Los Angeles Regional Small Business Development Center Network (LA SBDC) serving small businesses in the counties of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura. He has led the LA SBDC since 2016 and is a veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard, serving in the Artic onboard a polar icebreaker. In addition he has worked in the craft brewing industry, advertising/public relations, renewable energy/climate change mitigation, and is also a small business owner himself – operating a mobile event craft cocktail service from a restored 1961 Airstream trailer.
President and Chief Executive Officer of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) and the World Trade Center Los Angeles (WTCLA)
Stephen Cheung is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) and its subsidiary, the World Trade Center Los Angeles (WTCLA). As CEO of the LAEDC, Mr. Cheung brings together the capabilities of LAEDC’s mission-delivery department areas, including the Institute for Applied Economics (Research), Business Assistance, Industry Cluster Development, Workforce Development, World Trade Center Los Angeles (International), Strategic Relations, Communications & Marketing, and Public Policy, into a single team that delivers the LAEDC’s critically important, public-benefit mission – Reinventing our economy to collaboratively advance growth and prosperity for all.</div>
In 2023, Cheung was elevated to President and CEO after serving as Chief Operating Office and Executive Vice President of LAEDC, and continues in his concurrent role as President of World Trade Center Los Angeles, a title he has held since coming to the organization in 2014. Prior to that, Cheung was the Secretary General and Managing Director of International Trade and Foreign Affairs for Los Angeles Mayors Eric Garcetti and Antonio Villaraigosa, and was responsible for managing policies and programs related to the Port of Los Angeles, Los Angeles World Airports, International Affairs, Global Trade and Clean Technology. In these roles, he was the lead organizer for the Mayors’ previous international trade missions to Mexico, China, Korea, Japan, Colombia, Chile and Brazil. Furthermore, Cheung implemented the city’s strategic plan to make Los Angeles a global capital of clean technology by building the infrastructure to support research, development and manufacturing with key partners.</div>
Concurrently, Cheung was the Director of International Trade for the Port of Los Angeles – the busiest container port in North America, and was responsible for developing programs to increase trade through the Port of Los Angeles, and facilitate goods movement through the Southern California region.</div>
Cheung currently sits on the Board of Advisors of UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs, UCLA Extension, Coro Southern California and Sister Cities of Los Angeles, while also serving on the Los Angeles County Workforce Development Board.
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