AltaSea CEO joins Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors

Rachel Etherington Connects with Business Leadership to Promote Economic Potential of Sustainability

San Pedro, CA, January 29, 2015 – Rachel Etherington, CEO of AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles, will be appointed tonight as a member of the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, Southern California’s largest nonprofit business federation that represents the interests of more than 235,000 businesses in Los Angeles County.

 “On behalf of AltaSea, I am thrilled and deeply honored to join the Los Angeles region’s senior business leadership as a member of the Chamber’s Board of Directors,” Etherington said.  “I view this honor as a vote of confidence in our vision of AltaSea as a powerful source of innovation and economic development for Los Angeles. We have designed AltaSea very carefully to ensure that as we explore the science of global sustainability, we will nurture new and existing businesses to take advantage of the opportunities that will unfold from what we learn.”

As a new Chamber board member, Etherington will attend tonight’s annual Inaugural Dinner at the JW Marriot at LA Live, during which The Annenberg Foundation Chairman, President and CEO Wallis Annenberg will receive the Civic Medal of Honor.  The Annenberg Foundation has been a major force in the development of AltaSea, thus far donating $25 million toward the one-of-a-kind ocean innovations hub.

“I am fortunate that my installation as a board member comes at exactly the same time that Wallis Annenberg will be honored,” Etherington added. “So much of the progress Los Angeles has made in recent years has The Annenberg Foundation stamp firmly on it.  Wallis and the Foundation have been key to moving AltaSea to a point where we are within sight of our $217 million fundraising goal for construction of Phase 1.”

AltaSea’s mission includes expanding science-based understanding of the ocean. This will catalyze the creation of new, marine-based industries based on the scientific breakthroughs and technologies AltaSea will inspire. Examples of industries AltaSea could foster through its business hub include marine robotics, sustainable aquaculture, algae fuels, wind and wave energy, biomedical solutions and pollution reduction.

The construction, which will take place in three phases, and operation of AltaSea will bring significant economic benefits to Los Angeles. Phase 1 is estimated to create 4,200 temporary jobs, 1,350 permanent jobs and generate $290 million in increased economic activity annually, according to a 2013 economic study by Kosmont Companies. When all three phases are completed, AltaSea is projected to create more than 6,500 construction jobs and deliver over $1.17 billion of increased economic activity.

AltaSea

AltaSea is a public-private partnership that brings together science, business and education to generate innovative solutions to global sustainability issues. AltaSea will redevelop 35 acres at the Port of Los Angeles into a unique ocean-based campus that will work to demonstrate how the ocean directly contributes to the well-being of humankind and the health of the earth. Planning and permitting for Phase 1 Development has begun, with construction to begin in 2017 and will be completed by 2019. The campus will be comprised of three industry-focused hubs: a world-class science hub dedicated to expanding knowledge about the ocean, which will become the permanent home of the Southern California Marine Institute; a business hub that will accelerate creation of new and existing businesses that commercialize scientific breakthroughs and emerging technologies to create ocean-related products and services; and a groundbreaking education hub which includes an outreach center for policymakers, stakeholders, transformational thinkers, the public and students K-12.

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