Long Beach aims to anchor jobs downtown and expand aerospace presence
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Summary
Mayor Richardson outlined Grow Long Beach and Accelerate by '28 to create thousands of local jobs, highlighted VAST's expansion to a new 76,000-square-foot facility, and announced incentives to attract port-linked employers to downtown.
Mayor Rex Richardson framed economic development around a set of initiatives to grow local, high-wage jobs. "Grow Long Beach" was presented as a strategy to attract aerospace, advanced manufacturing, clean technology and other high-growth industries that the city says have created more than 4,100 jobs since 2023.
Richardson highlighted VAST's rapid expansion and said the company will take a new 76,000-square-foot facility in Long Beach. He also cited investments by Rocket Lab, Nikon AM Synergy and a Ford electric-vehicle research hub. To accelerate growth, the administration announced Accelerate by '28, a partnership with CEOs, developers and workforce networks to create 4,000 more high-growth jobs by 2028.
As part of downtown economic strategy, the mayor unveiled Anchor LB, an effort to invite international shippers, manufacturers and logistics firms to relocate North American operations downtown and align port activity with office leasing and workforce training.
The administration said incentives and workforce pipelines will prioritize Long Beach residents for those jobs and stressed partnerships with local colleges and unions for training and placement.
