Riverside County announced today the launch of an economic recovery task force. The 17-member task force will provide recommendations to the county board of supervisors on restarting the local economy and preparing to rebound from the coronavirus pandemic.
Board Chair V. Manuel Perez and Vice Chair Karen Spiegel proposed task force, which received full board approval on April 21.
“As we continue to fight against the silent enemy, coronavirus, metrics demonstrate that we can now balance that with turning the corner towards economic opportunity,” Perez said in a news release announcing the task force.
“An important part of our efforts is making sure we are workforce ready and business ready once the state moves into the next phase in its roadmap. I envision this local economic recovery team as identifying resources, policies and opportunities that can help the local economy bounce back sooner in the Fourth District and Riverside County as a whole.”
The board formed this task force with business and community leaders from throughout Riverside County to study how to support businesses in their recovery efforts. The task force is expected to be in place for 18 months and will identify both short and long-term strategies to assist the local economy, the news release stated.
“We have assembled a fantastic wealth of knowledge and expertise to serve on the Economic Recovery Task Force while ensuring representation across the county,” Spiegel said. “Their combined expertise, innovation and collaboration will be instrumental in developing a comprehensive and methodical approach towards re-opening our business communities and providing the support our region will need to rebound our economy from the devastating impacts of COVID-19. Their hard work and dedication to this effort is greatly appreciated. I’m confident that we will get through this together.”
Representing each of the five supervisorial districts and regions of the county, the task force draws upon the established business expertise and resources from local chambers of commerce, tourism bureaus, industry leaders and public sector partners.
The following 17 businesses and community leaders make up the task force:
- Convention and Visitors Bureau/BIA (Chair) – Lou Monville,
- Greater Coachella Valley Chamber of Commerce (Vice Chair) – Josh Bonner
- Coachella Valley Association of Governments – Tom Kirk
- Coachella Valley Economic Partnership – Joe Wallace
- Corona Chamber of Commerce – Bobby Spiegel
- Greater Palm Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau – Scott White
- Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce – Cindy Roth
- Inland Empire Economic Partnership – Paul Granillo
- Lake Elsinore Chamber of Commerce – Kim Cousins
- Moreno Valley Chamber of Commerce – Oscar Valdepena
- Riverside County Farm Bureau – Rachel Johnson T
- Temecula Chamber of Commerce – Emily Fallappino
- Visit Temecula Valley – Kimberly Adams
- Western Riverside Council of Governments – Rick Bishop
- Wildomar/Murrieta Chamber of Commerce – Patrick Ellis
- Wine Growers Association – Phil Baily
- Workforce Development Board – Jamil Dada
County staff members from the Economic Development Department and Transportation and Land Management Agency will work alongside the task force to support the critically important objectives of the task force.
