The head of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce is urging the City Council to finally cut its ties with a Long Beach-based company that wants to build a shipyard at the Port of Los Angeles.
The chamber’s move comes as the council’s Trade, Commerce and Tourism Committee is scheduled today to debate whether negotiations should continue with Gambol Industries.
“While we thank Gambol for their dedication to bringing jobs to the harbor, it does not appear to be possible to achieve this win-win scenario and still meet the competitive timeline that the port will face from the widening of the Panama Canal and modernized East Coast ports,” Gary Toebben, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, wrote in a letter delivered Monday to Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn. “Thus, we have determined that it is in the best interest of the regional economy to move forward immediately on the channel deepening project.”