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- Category: Industry News
The Greater California Livery Association (GCLA) recently held elections to fill Board of Directors seats for 2021. The 2021 GCLA Board of Directors are:
Northern California Region:
Thomas Buck of Beau Wine Tours
Harry Dhillon of Ecko Transportation Worldwide
Don Manke of ABC Worldwide Transportation
Maurice Brewster of Mosaic Global Transportation
Los Angeles Region:
Jack Nissim of Avalon Transportation
Robert Gaskill of Motev
Chris Hundley of Limousine Connection
Alex Darbahani of KLS Worldwide
Orange County Region:
Mo Garkani of The COTS Group
Mark Stewart of CLI Worldwide Transportation
San Diego Region:
Darren Croasdale of La Costa Limousine
Adrian Davis of Five Star Transportation Services
At-Large Region:
Selim Aslan of MIB Transportation
Vendors:
Jeff Brodsly of Chosen Payments
Alaric Sales of McCoy Auto Brokers
Patrick O'Brien of O'Brien & Associates
GCLA Board of Directors will hold a board meeting in January 2021, and elect an Executive Board, which consists of a President, 1st Vice President, 2nd Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer.
In other news, the GCLA informed its membership that Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration has created a $500 million COVID Relief Grant administered by the California Office of the Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA) at the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. Small businesses that have been impacted by COVID health and safety restrictions are eligible to receive relief funds through grants of up to $25,000 to underserved micro and small businesses throughout the state by early 2021. CalOSBA is establishing the program has plans to make it available to small businesses as soon as possible. Furthermore, Newsom announced the opening of the California Rebuilding Fund, which makes available $25 million to help impacted small businesses rebuild from the economic crisis and keep local economies strong. This program is intended to be a resource in the market for the next year as businesses pivot and recover.
Visit gcla.org for more information.
[12.07.20]
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- Category: Industry News
The latest unemployment figures prepared for the U.S. Travel Association by Tourism Economics paint a dire picture: the travel-dependent leisure and hospitality industries are suffering from a 15 percent unemployment rate—nearly double the national level.
Any early signs of a modest recovery for the sector—which accounted for 11 percent of all pre-pandemic employment in the U.S. yet has suffered 35 percent of all pandemic-related job losses—have been effectively extinguished. These industries resurged slightly in September with 413,000 new jobs, but declined precipitously over the past three months, adding only 31,000 jobs in November.
These distressing figures arrive as Congress continues to negotiate a coronavirus relief package before the end of the year, without which the travel industry’s recovery will be even more challenging. Earlier estimates from Tourism Economics indicated that 50 percent of all direct travel jobs will be lost by the end of December without federal relief—an additional loss of 948,000 jobs and a total loss of 4.5 million direct travel jobs.
“Every day that passes without relief makes it harder to bring back the jobs that were lost,” said U.S. Travel President and CEO Roger Dow. “We know that both sides of the political aisle largely agree on the measures necessary to sustain and restore the travel industry, and we urge lawmakers to pass a relief package without delay before year’s end.
“Not only will a relief package go a long way in protecting vulnerable travel industry jobs, but it’s the will of the American people for Washington to come together and get a deal done.”
U.S. Travel will continue to engage with Congress and impress upon legislators the importance of passing a coronavirus relief package before the end of the year. Crucially, the travel industry is asking, at the very least, for a relief package to include measures to enhance and extend the Paycheck Protection Program through the end of 2021, expand eligibility to include 501(c)(6) and quasi-governmental destination marketing organizations and allow for a second draw on loans for the hardest-hit industries.
The full unemployment report can be viewed here.
Visit ustravel.org for more information.
[12.07.20]
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- Category: Industry News
Leading bus organization, the American Bus Association (ABA), recently participated in the deliberations made this month before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). A recommendation has been made to prioritize transportation workers, including motorcoach operators, in the second wave following distribution to front-line healthcare workers and long-term care facility employees.
This recommendation follows the March 28 classification of motorcoach drivers on the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) guidance list of critical and essential workers. The motorcoach industry has been on the forefront continually moving essential workers who do not have the luxury of working from home during the pandemic or helping those in crises such as wildfires and hurricanes.
In his letter to the CDC, ABA President & CEO Peter Pantuso wrote:
“The passenger-carrying commercial motor carrier workforce has been on the front lines during the COVID-19 pandemic, moving health care workers, both civilian and military, along with supplies around the country. These essential workers have put their lives at risk, and taken criticism from the communities in which they live and operate, in order to bring much needed help to COVID-19 hot spots, and relieve quarantined cruise ship passengers. Further, this industry carried out these duties despite the loss of nearly 90 percent of the passenger-carrying commercial motor carrier industry’s revenue due to COVID-19 shutting down the economy.
“As you well know, the nation is far from recovering from this pandemic and the months ahead may see an unprecedented increase in cases, due to the winter season and rise of infections. Therefore, the passenger-carrying commercial motor carrier industry will remain in high demand to assist with not only moving healthcare personnel and supplies where needed, but also to assist with the vaccine allocation as well. In other words, our professional drivers and support staff will remain essential and highly exposed workers, who merit priority in terms of COVID-19 vaccinations.”
Visit buses.org for more information.
[12.07.20]