Little Too Late for Activism? : Burts Takes the Helm of a Chamber Lost in the Crowd

Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Ezunial Burts was named Thursday to head the 2,000-member Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, as the venerable institution struggles to raise its profile in an increasingly diverse and decentralized business landscape.

Burts, 50, a 25-year veteran of city administrative posts, in January will replace Ray Remy, 58, who has led the chamber for 12 years.

Burts pledged Thursday to guide the chamber into a more activist role, saying it should address a broad range of concerns such as education, the region’s infrastructure and international trade.

“Under Remy’s leadership there’s been stable financing [of the chamber], a new building, a good membership base and a very strong board,” Burts said. “It’s time for the next step.”

The announcement that Burts would head the chamber created barely a stir in business and political circles.

Not surprising.

With more than 185 chambers of commerce and innumerable other business organizations in the Southland, the 108-year-old chamber long ago lost its place as the region’s premier business group.

Instead, the chamber now finds itself just another voice, struggling for influence in an increasingly diffuse and ethnically diverse business culture.

Some business leaders fault the chamber for failing to lead more aggressively. They point to two successful models to the south: The 4,000-member San Diego Chamber of Commerce and the 2,100-member Orange County Business Council, which have gained clout by taking an activist, coordinator’s role.

“I joined the chamber with not a lot of enthusiasm because I really did think, ‘What do they do?’ ” said Linda Griego, departing head of RLA and, for two years, a chamber board member. “The chamber has opened a lot of doors for me, but that question has not really been answered, even today.”

Despite Burts’ vow to revitalize the chamber, some in the business community noted that he is an administrator, not an entrepreneur--cut from nearly the same cloth as Remy. Both worked in Tom Bradley’s administration, Burts as an executive assistant to the mayor who was later appointed to head the Harbor Department, and Remy as deputy mayor.

Many business leaders say Remy presided over the final chapter of the city’s old-style, ruling elite, which for decades used the chamber to sway municipal bond elections, bring water to the region, hand-pick local politicians, build a harbor and airport and, later, redevelop Bunker Hill.

CEOs of companies with long histories in Southern California dominated the chamber in those days. But their influence began to wane early in the 1970s, when the chamber broadened its focus beyond the city of Los Angeles to include Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Ventura, Riverside and Orange counties, said Steve Erie, professor of Southern California history at UC San Diego.

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“The need for consensus cripples the chamber,” Erie said.

Remy, who had a reputation as a low-key consensus builder when he took over in 1984, continued the chamber’s focus on regional issues. Under his leadership, the chamber played key roles in the fight to keep the Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo, loosen stringent federal air quality regulations, gain approval for the Alameda Corridor transportation project and establish an export-import program under a $2.6-million federal grant.

He oversaw the exchange of the chamber’s shabby, brick building on Bixel Street, west of the Harbor Freeway, for a handsome, 63,000-square-foot, two-story office building next door. A twin office tower, hotel and glitzy retail shops were to be neighbors. But when the real estate market bottomed out, the chamber was left nearly alone, isolated on a little-used street.

Next, the recession took its toll as CEOs in powerful aerospace companies, banks, savings and loan institutions, department stores and manufacturing firms left the chamber because of company mergers, relocations or downsizing.

Chamber membership dropped from a high of 4,000 in the early 1980s to 1,600, Remy said. In 1993, Remy cut back the 60-person staff by eight positions, and in 1995, the chamber operated at an $80,000 loss. The chamber, which operates on a $3.7-million budget, expects to end the year $150,000 ahead, Remy said, a result of the improving economy.

Besides financial and membership problems, the chamber also faced stiff competition from other business groups.

New chambers have sprouted everywhere as the state’s small business communities have matured in outlying suburban towns and neighborhoods, said Dave Kilby, of the California Chamber of Commerce, a statewide association of chambers.

Although most of these smaller chambers focus on community boosterism and push for strictly local issues, such as clean sidewalks and better street lighting, many of the chambers in Los Angeles County have matured, boasting bigger budgets, full-time staff members and legislative programs, Kilby said.

Many are in better financial shape than large urban chambers, like Los Angeles, which rely on hefty membership dues from large corporations.

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Besides other city and neighborhood chambers, the Los Angeles chamber also faces competition from an increasing number of ethnic chambers, whose ranks have blossomed as the state’s immigrants have gained economic clout, Kilby said.

Meanwhile, women’s business organizations, like the National Assn. of Women Business Owners, and trade associations increasingly draw business owners that would have joined a downtown chamber.

Recognizing this trend, the Los Angeles chamber has tried to distinguish itself by honing its regional focus. But even there, significant competition exists from the Central City Assn., a downtown business group with a reputation for aggressive advocacy that has succeeded in enticing a few movie studios to join; the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn., a San Fernando Valley business group that tracks state and national legislative proposals; and the 18-month-old Los Angeles Business Advisors, a select group of top CEOs and utility company executive directors willing to pay $40,000 annual dues.

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Although some say LABA was created because the chamber lacks clout, others say the group was created so that newer CEOs could network. LABA officials declined to discuss their organization, which focuses on regional issues such as development of the Alameda Corridor.

Further, Sacramento lobbyists and legislative aides say the chamber is not as big a force in Sacramento or Washington as it should be. They say the chamber has been content to appear at hearings but has not rolled up its sleeves and done the daily detail work required to win its agenda.

Remy agreed, saying that the chamber has had to pick and choose its issues because it hasn’t been able to send a staff member full-time in Sacramento or Washington.

Some City Hall observers add that the chamber was unaccountably quiet during the recession in the early 1990s--the worst in 60 years--and after the riots, leaving the field wide open for the nonprofit Economic Development Corp. of Los Angeles County to fill a role that belonged to the chamber.

But Remy said the chamber was precluded from taking more of an activist role because Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan created programs of his own. Similarly, Remy said the chamber should not duplicate the EDC’s role of retaining and attracting business but should provide assistance as needed.

Burts sees opportunity in these challenges, for himself and for the entire chamber board and membership.

“They’re willing and anxious to do that,” Burts said.