Los Angeles Briefs: County Creates Life Sciences Liaison and Enhances Access to Services For Unincorporated Areas

L.A. County Has Created A Life Sciences Liaison for Unincorporated Communities

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, LA County Planning, and the LA County Department of Economic Opportunity or DEO Sept. 26 announced the appointment of Melissa Reyes as the county’s first “Life Sciences Liaison” for unincorporated communities. This appointment is part of the county’s efforts to expand development projects, investments and equitable high-road career opportunities in the life science industry. The life sciences liaison will help this industry, which includes biotechnology, biopharmaceuticals, medical devices and equipment, research and manufacturing, scientific/research tools and food and agriculture biotech, to successfully navigate the county’s land use, entitlement and permitting process and, in partnership with DEO, drive inclusive economic and workforce development opportunities that benefit local residents.  

Stemming from a July 2022 motion authored by Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell, the appointment of the life sciences liaison is a key component of the county’s commitment to advance this industry through strategies that include investing in a diverse and equitable talent pipeline, incentives to support the industry and development of a biotechnology park at the Harbor-UCLA campus.

The life sciences industry provides 100,000 jobs throughout the region at an average annual salary of more than $100,000, with more than 50% of positions not requiring a bachelor’s degree, offering opportunities for inclusive growth and additional workforce pipelines that support pathways for county residents into these quality jobs. 

The beginning-to-end services provided by the life sciences liaison will guide development proposals from the initial application stage through obtaining all required permits and licenses from other county departments. The liaison will also bring together [from] county departments involved with the land use entitlement, permitting, and licensing processes for the development of life sciences campuses, manufacturing, and laboratories.

Applicants are encouraged to request an LA County pre-application counseling meeting for a consultation with all relevant county departments. These meetings allow prospective applicants to receive feedback from all county departments in one [meeting]. 

Details: Request a counseling meeting and fill out the application form here. 

To connect to L.A. County’s Life Sciences Liaison or to learn more, email mreyes2@planning.lacounty.gov or call 213-974-6411. To learn more about DEO, visit here.  To learn more about LA County Planning, visit here. 

Supervisors Move to Enhance Access to County Services For Unincorporated Areas 

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Sept. 12 unanimously approved a motion authored by Supervisors Holly J. Mitchell and Kathryn Barger focused on increasing access to county departments, programs, and services for the over 120 unincorporated areas that rely on Los Angeles County as its primary source for municipal services. The motion directs the chief executive office to report back within 90 days with a plan for launching a comprehensive website to access all county services and departments, accompanied by multi-lingual printed materials and an outreach strategy for unincorporated areas. 

The County of Los Angeles is the most populous and complex county system in the nation, responsible for setting policies and delivering services to meet the needs of 10 million residents, out of which 1 million are living in unincorporated areas, communities outside of city jurisdictions, that have no local mayor or city council. These areas look to the county and their county supervisor for local government representation and services, including sanitation, public libraries, public safety, environmental protection, emergency response, code enforcement, homelessness crisis response and other critical services and initiatives.