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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Passion + Clout = Action

Gregory N. Lippe is a businessperson who is passionate about the political process and getting involved in it. He’s the managing partner of Lippe, Hellie, Hoffer & Allison CPA firm in Woodland Hills but some people may not know that, associating him with broader business interests as they see him at most issue-oriented events throughout the Valley and at L.A. City Hall and the state Capitol in Sacramento. Lippe’s passion for the legislative process gained some clout at the first of the year when he assumed a two-year term as chairman of the Valley Industry & Commerce Association, a well-known local business advocacy organization. He shared his views last week about his new position and the role of VICA. Question: What are your three top goals for your term? Answer: To increase membership and revenues, to open up dialogue with labor and to open up dialogue with the neighborhood councils. Q: How is VICA doing financially? A: We ended last year on the best note ever. We had more revenues last year than ever. Q: What about membership? How many members does VICA have? A: 300. We’ve been at 300 for the past few years that’s why membership is one of my top priorities. I think that we haven’t done an effective job selling. We’ve been involved in advocacy and sometimes when you spend all your time doing what your mission is, enough concentration isn’t placed on growing membership. Advocacy is a tough sell to smaller businesses. We have been getting more larger businesses involved in VICA. Q: How do you get to smaller businesses? A: We’re bringing on a development person to reach out into the community but basically you have to be able to prove that you can do something. One of the programs we started this year is the Red Tape Busters (a program in which VICA helps businesses get in touch with the right person within city government to help them solve a problem) that is probably going to do more for small business than anything else. They may have issues with their storefronts or neighborhoods. We can get them access very quickly to city officials. Q: Elaborate on how you’ll open up a dialogue with labor and neighborhood councils. A: When a bill is bad for business, it’s bad for jobs. You get the feeling that business and labor are on opposite sides. The fact of the matter is we’re not on opposite sides in terms of what our goals are in a lot of areas. What happens is when a bill is introduced and it has a negative impact on business, business closes off. Labor says “we deserve more” and the two don’t talk. And when you don’t talk, you don’t accomplish anything. I would like to see the two of us talk beforehand instead of approaching the legislators separately. I’d like to come in already agreeing on some points. Q: What are some issues that business and labor can work on? A: The writers’ strike. I actually had some meetings with union representatives and we were on the same footing. I don’t know whether that had an effect on the outcome but at least it opened a dialogue and the other side was friendly and eager to do it. The collaboration is already happening in other areas: Holy Cross expansion, the NBC Universal project. Upcoming issues will be LAX and infrastructure projects where we can work together. Q: How will you put your personal imprint on the organization during your term as chairman? A: What I bring to the organization is a lot of energy and motivation. I’m in somewhat of a unique position. I don’t owe anything to any side. I’m not running for any office, so I don’t have to look to special interests to support me. Q: How do you feel you get along with elected officials? A: Very well. We go up to Sacramento every month and we meet with numerous legislators and the door is always open to us. They know we’re not there just for us. It’s a two-way street. Many times we’re able to do things to help them with issues that they are championing. I’m willing to step up and testify. I testified just recently for Assemblyman Cameron Smyth on the LAUSD breakup bill. They know they can call me and I’m going to help them. Q: What are some of the issues VICA is tackling at L.A. City Hall? A: City budget is the big one. We’ve got this $165 million deficit and we at VICA have proposed a list of 50 suggestions on how to fix the problem. The main thing is there are $500 million in uncollected funds that the city has. If it was able to collect its bills, it doesn’t seem like we’d be in a deficit. VICA presented these suggestions to a city council committee and they gave us a lot more time than they usually do. The mayor’s office is interested in some of the recommendations we had made. Q: Rate VICA’s clout locally, statewide and nationally. A: We’re strongest locally, followed very closely by statewide. We’re less strong on a national level mainly because we’re out here. We go to Washington once a year. We do meet with our elected officials who represent us in Washington when they’re here and keep the communication open with their staff. Q: What is VICA going to focus on during its trip to Washington in April? A: We’re leading a team on water and one on small business issues. Q: There’s a pretty big state budget gap, too. How does that affect VICA’s legislative priorities? A: It’s going to have an impact on our ability to get our issues through, especially those that are going to cost money, such as tax credits for manufacturing, even though there is evidence that when you provide tax credits you can stimulate the economy. But one thing is for sure, we can’t afford to run more businesses out of California. Q: The word is that enterprise zones may be in danger. How do you respond to that? A: I think the thinking is that cities and the state can’t afford to reduce revenues, but those enterprise zones encourage investment and encourage businesses to locate in a particular area. If the zones are eliminated, the effect overall will be less money to the state. Q: Some people feel that VICA takes on too many issues and should really focus on a few really winnable issues in any given year. How do you feel about this view? A: It depends upon the importance of the issues. If you have two or three issues that are important during the year then that is what I think we should focus on, but if you have ten issues during the year I’d want to try to do something with all of them. What is too many issues? I think it’s a matter of what’s important. I don’t believe we’ve tried to deal with too many issues. Q: VICA recently polled its members about starting a PAC (Political Action Committee) and endorsing candidates. What were the results? A: More than two-thirds agreed we need to elect more business-friendly candidates and that VICA should be involved in candidate recruitment. We feel that at this point, in order to be more successful with issues, we need to elect the candidates that are going to listen. Q: Won’t this alienate VICA to certain candidates? A: VICA’s goal is to advocate for a better business climate; not necessarily to refrain from criticizing officeholders who vote anti-business. But we want to maintain a solid relationship with officeholders. So if we do start a PAC, we’ll be careful to make sure our endorsement process is fair and respectful. Q: What makes VICA stand out from other business groups? A: Business advocacy. A lot of business groups don’t really do it. We go to the state capitol regularly and to city hall. I’m struck as to how few business people are really involved in the legislative process. Another thing that separates us is the program Red Tape Busters. How many business groups are equipped to handle bureaucratic advocacy? We get the attention that businesses need. Also, it’s in the events that we put on; we have a significant number of elected officials attend. SNAPSHOT – Gregory N. Lippe Title: Chairman, Valley Industry & Commerce Association Age: 62 Birthpalce: Maywood, Calif. Education: BS, BA Woodbury University Career Turning Point: After high school, I entered the Navy. This made me realize that I needed to make something of myself professionally. Most Admired: John F. Kennedy Personal: Married, two sons

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