We’ve rounded up the top news stories coming out of the Los Angeles metro this week.
A Hero MBA – USC Marshall Newsroom
The Marshall School of Business at USC recently celebrated the graduation of the MBA Class of 2018, including Marine Corps Cap. Corban Pierce. Pierce, his MBA now in hand, hopes to use his degree to start a nonprofit that will help children around the world.
“I wanted to find a school that shared my values of entrepreneurship and helping people,” Pierce recalled on his decision to attend Marshall in a recent interview. “I found that spirit at USC.”
Pierce, who has served the country as the executive officer at Reconnaissance Training Company in the Marine Corps. He was attracted to USC for their combination of unrelenting high standards and flexibility. Pursuing the online MBA at Marshall, Pierce was able to continue his work training young Marines at Camp Pendleton, be a father to his five-year-old son, and still earn his degree. He plans to continue his military service after graduation, and is excited to put the skills he learned in the program to work. “It’s not about solving major crises,” Pierce said, commenting on his long-term goal of using business to create lasting change.
“It’s solving small things.”
You can read more about Pierce’s experience with the USC Marshall Online MBA here.
California Gains More Than 39,000 jobs; Unemployment Falls to Record Low – LA Times
A recent LA Times report from the Employment Development Department revealed a boost in the California economy throughout April, despite worries of an economic downturn. In March, the unemployment rate in the state had fallen to a record low of 4.2 percent, but April showed widespread job growth throughout multiple sectors. In the professional and business services sector alone, California witnessed an increase of 8,500 jobs.
“Each month in 2018, it seems that California’s employment boom will end, and each month it continues,” commented former director of the Employment Development Department Michael Bernick. In fact, all metros in Southern California saw an increase in the number of jobs throughout April. With 11,200 added jobs, San Diego County had the highest of any region in the state, and Los Angeles was close behind with an increase of 6,400.
“Good numbers,” said Dave Smith, an economist at the Pepperdine University Graziadio School of Business and Management. “There are no signs of a potential downturn. The potential risk factors are overheating.”
Read more about California job gains and the employment report here.
ABC’s Move to Ax ‘Roseanne’ Reflects Businesses are Often at Front Lines of Culture Wars – U.S.A. Today
UCLA Anderson School of Management Jay Tucker, executive director at the Center for Media, Entertainment & Sports, recently commented on the cancellation of the Roseanne reboot by the ABC network, after its titular star, Roseanne Barr, posted several inflammatory tweets regarding Valerie Jarrett—a former aide under President Barack Obama—in comparison to apes from the ‘Planet of the Apes’ film franchise.
In an interview with USA Today, Tucker remarks, “In an earlier (TV) era, it would have taken half a season to make that decision after much internal analysis.”
“But the network now faces a backlash from other quarters. Many of the comedian’s fans blame the show’s cancellation on political correctness and are threatening a boycott of their own.”
You can read the remainder of the article here.