Shiquita Sargent is as confident as they come—and with good reason. The 35-year-old has overcome a number of obstacles in her young life. At her dance studio, Gravity Dance Company in Bixby Knolls, Sargent aims to teach her students the same grit, perseverance and love for dance that has carried her through tough times.

When visitors come to a convention on Long Beach’s waterfront, they also go out to dinner after with friends at nearby restaurants, shop for gifts to bring home, stay overnight at hotels, and rent bicycles to pedal up the beach path. When they like what they see, they may schedule a return trip with the whole family.

ALC acts on the longstanding belief that small businesses and grassroots entrepreneurs are the true engines of the U.S. economy.

For about three and a half years, Carolyn Caldwell has served as president and CEO of St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach. But her journey to leading one of the area’s largest hospitals—before and during one of the worst health crises in modern American history—was a long one spanning decades and multiple states.

David Slater, executive vice president and COO of oil company and developer Signal Hill Petroleum, said the pandemic did not play a role in putting the project on hold.

A 36-unit condo project in the Washington Neighborhood gained a key approval from the Long Beach Planning Commission Thursday but neighbors of the project are concerned of its impact on parking.

The hotel would become one of the city’s tallest buildings at approximately 375 feet, and one of its most recognizable with a proposed 130-foot tall lighted-spire to extend upward from its 28th floor.

“Every day I’m on the phone with someone trying to convince them to not cancel and take their business to another state,” said Steve Goodling, President and CEO of the Long Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The new district, called El Mercado de Long Beach (“The market of Long Beach”), would be a space that could also help Latinos recover from the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic, as data shows this group was hit particularly hard. 

Takisha Clark, a single mother from Compton, felt she was on the right path to financial freedom, until a devastating loss knocked her life out of control.

"If it’s not sustainable, I’m going to have to liquidate."

On Tuesday, the state reported an adjusted case rate for the county of 7.2 cases per 100,000 residents; that number must fall below 7 in order to move to a less-restrictive tier.

City officials said over 3,000 food workers in Long Beach could be vaccinated March 5 at the Long Beach Convention Center.

Rigoberto Ramirez Sr. owned the Ramirez Strawberry Ranch in West Long Beach on Santa Fe Avenue and Arlington Street, a place where people from Long Beach and beyond would buy his sweet strawberries for the past 53 years.

The lawsuit seeking to overturn the pay raise will still be allowed to proceed, just with the law remaining in place for now.

Dollar Stix Filipino Exotic Grill, a new restaurant that opened in December in West Long Beach, aims to stand out from the small bunch of Filipino venues sprinkled across the area with its signature street food.

If a vote to unionize passes, over 20 Southern California publications under the SCNG umbrella could become union workplaces.

It’s been a tough economic year for just about every business sector, especially in the hospitality-heavy city of Long Beach. But one of the industries that has emerged unscathed has been aerospace, which managed to add a few thousand jobs between September 2019 and September 2020, according to a February report compiled by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation.

The Belmont Shore Business Association announced that 36-year-old Jessie Artigue would succeed long time executive director Dede Rossi as its leader.

Despite the ongoing vaccination effort and subsequent reopenings currently underway in Long Beach, the local real estate market is still operating under the cloud...

"Grocery and drug retail employees have continued to report to work and serve our communities, despite the ongoing hazards and dangers of being exposed to COVID-19.''

Aviation and aerospace roots run deep in Long Beach—about 80 years to be exact. The sector has ebbed and flowed through the decades but has remained a constant force in the city. In the past, it was military and commercial aircraft. Today, companies have their sights set higher: Earth’s orbit and beyond.

The 30-story American Life hotel project has struggled through a long entitlement process and a pandemic, but now its developers are bring it back for approval from the city.

The landscaping isn’t as graceful as Killingsworth typically preferred, but perhaps the eternal expanse of the Pacific visible from rooms throughout the house was more than enough for the architect who invariably integrated the inside of his houses with the outside environment.

Many residents, as well as some city leaders, including Mayor Robert Garcia, have shown displeasure over the move.

Dana Tanner, owner of Restauration in Bluff Heights, is still facing a host of other fines and criminal charges.

The storage of energy is one of the deciding factors in achieving California’s ambitious goal of transitioning to 100% carbon-free power sources by 2045. 

The California Labor & Workforce Development Agency has created a searchable database of local and industry-specific guidelines for businesses.

Together with his best friend from college, Justin Morgan developed an app to help improve communication between small-property landlords and tenants.

To accomplish this the city will enter into an agreement with the California Statewide Communities Development Authority to issue bonds for the purchase of the Oceanaire from its current operator, Waterford Property Group.

A request from the Long Beach City Council asked for alternate methods of food access such farm stands and farmers markets.

The Long Beach Performing Arts Center could soon be renamed after former Mayor Beverly O'Neill if a City Council committee returns the item to the full council later this year.

Pawsitively Long Beach, located in the East Village Arts District at 254 Elm St., is Long Beach’s latest small-business casualty. The business will shut its doors on Wednesdays.

An employee confirmed Monday that the store would begin closing this week, just days after the company posted listings for temporary positions to close the store located near Bellflower Boulevard and Stearns Street.

Cannabis tax revenue finished $6.3 million over city projections, and the increase could be just a glimpse of what's to come as the industry continues to grow in Long Beach.

It’s a vacant lot with its own boat dock that runs the entire 68 feet of the lot’s frontage; typically, a vacant lot doesn’t come with a place to moor your yacht.

Long Beach has an assortment of record stores—some that specialize in certain vinyl such as Toxic Toast’s Japanese imports and others that cater to...

Both the city’s operating and emergency reserves could be reduced below minimum levels outlined by city financial policy, with the operating budget being drained to near zero if the council approves the proposed budget adjustments Tuesday.

A year ago, at age 26, Elizabeth Alcantar was sworn in as the youngest mayor in the city of Cudahy. Exactly one week later, on Jan. 14, Delta Air Lines Flight 89 declared an emergency and dumped 15,000 gallons of jet fuel on multiple East Los Angeles and South Bay communities, including Cudahy, kicking off a tumultuous one-year term for the young politician.

In a modest storefront on Retro Row, shelves of vintage cameras sit encased behind towering glass displays: Polaroids, point-and-shoots, standard SLRs, even a ‘76 Super 8 motion camera. It’s an impressive collection. Then again, after 10 years collecting the analog equipment, it tends to add up.

The home with its second-story addition has maintained the sleek, horizontal lines and capacious overhangs that mark the rancho style, and it’s easy to imagine even Cliff May giving it a begrudging approval.

Whether in its packed workplaces or crowded residential neighborhoods, the 27 cities and nine unincorporated areas of the Gateway region of southeastern LA are being hit hard by coronavirus cases.

Officials highlighted many of the Port of Long Beach's achievements during the coronavirus pandemic—from rebounding cargo volumes that ended up breaking historic records, to massive infrastructure projects like the completion of the Gerald Desmond Replacement bridge—during the annual State of the Port address Thursday morning.

Nickey McKnight’s self-made-boss mentality and Southern upbringing inspired her to open The Boujie Crab restaurant in North Long Beach—and despite opening during the COVID-19 pandemic, the upscale seafood restaurant is already making waves.

Digital media agency Hunnibuzz has the mission to make branding and web design services more accessible, especially to women of color.

The national grocery giant is closing one of its Ralphs stores, located at 3380 N. Los Coyotes Diagonal, and one Food 4 Less store, located at 2185 E. South St.

The Black Business Strategies program trains business owners on a number of techniques ranging from marketing strategies and social media use and offers one-on-one consulting.

Khiley Braxton founded Sissy B Nails with her mother, Krystle Braxton, who helped her start the company as a birthday present. Since then, the company has sold over 5,000 bottles of nail polish.

Over the last 12 years, Long Beach City College has seen the investment of hundreds of millions of dollars in new construction, renovations and upgrades of critical infrastructure to create a more conducive—and sustainable—learning environment for students.

The diner still requires a few finishing touches, but owner Melanie Overett said it is open for outdoor dining starting today.

For decades, the city has leased the ship to various operators who are charged with maintenance, and many of those operators have met similar financial struggles.

The city of Long Beach will begin vaccinating essential workers outside of the healthcare field on Tuesday. Advocates from various industries say their workers should be next.

A long awaited second round of federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans is being rolled out this week. In total, the Small Business Administration is set to give out $284.5 billion in loans to businesses.

The Southern California Food Allergy Institute relies on large sets of data and applied mathematics to treat strong food allergies.

The most popular states to which people from the Golden State flee are Texas (according to recent census figures, about 82,000 Californians ended up in that state), followed by Arizona (59,000), Nevada (47,000), Washington (46,000) and Oregon (38,000).

Chianina Steakhouse on Second Street will close its doors for good. Michael's on Naples will be closing temporarily until outdoor dining is allowed to resume.

Construction of the 80,000-square-foot Cherese Mari Laulhere Children’s Village on the Long Beach Medical Center campus has been completed and equipment will be moved into the facility over the next two months. The first patients are expected to be admitted in February.

After forming a nonprofit to represent marginalized entrepreneurs looking to enter the cannabis industry, Cruz and his business partner developed an ambitious plan to provide them with business development support.

“Nobody can tell me that shutting down my small business, my barber shop, is going to stop COVID,” said Gabe Torres, owner of Precise Barber Shop and Precise Barber College.

It’s an understatement to say that 2020 challenged Long Beach and the Downtown area in ways that no one saw coming. Heading into 2021, the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic will likely linger for years. But other economic and development efforts remain on the horizon. 

Surely 2020 turned out to be the worst one yet for many millions of people. If nothing else, it’s unified the world in a hatred for a year expressed in every language.

The streets of Downtown are empty and businesses are struggling. Many storefronts still bear reminders of this summer's protests over police brutality. Through it all, the DLBA reflects.

With JetBlue Airways’ exit from Long Beach Airport, Southwest Airlines has stepped up as the airport’s premier carrier. The easily recognizable red, yellow and blue aircraft eventually will be flying 34 of the airport’s 53 allotted daily flight slots as it continues to expand service out of the domestic airfield.

Construction is underway on the second phase of the Long Beach modernization program, but the ongoing pandemic has wreaked havoc on the completion schedule and a budget that has already been increased once prior to COVID-19.

A new program under the leadership of the recently founded Accountability PAC wants to provide direct assistance to restaurant workers who have lost their income as a result of the current restrictions on restaurants. 

To offset lost business and brighten the holidays, Bixby Knolls staple Rasselbock Kitchen & Beer Garden sold about 200 Christmas trees out of its outdoor dining area.

Big-name restaurateurs in Long Beach had tried for years to form a collective to advocate on behalf of local eateries. But it took a pandemic, and restrictions on dining that threaten to put many restaurants out of business, for the effort to find success. 

Long Beach Airport has taken a massive financial hit due to the coronavirus pandemic, which caused passenger numbers to plummet, at one point down more than 95% over last year.

While many industries have struggled during the pandemic, cannabis businesses—which were deemed essential and allowed to operate throughout the pandemic and stay-at-home orders—are thriving.

Unlike the restaurant-to-store conversions that happened in March, restaurateurs are now focusing on specialty items like fresh pasta and imported treats.

“I’d like to stay but I can’t do it."

Over the weekend, new signage for Sheldrake Coffee Roasting went up, replacing the Polly’s logo that has graced the Belmont Shore coffeehouse for more than four decades.

The parking lots of stores across the city were full on Friday, with shoppers once again stocking up on some of the supplies that...

Grocery store workers are expecting an especially intense rush to supermarkets this year—and with it an increased risk of contracting the coronavirus. 

Three companies in particular, Frontier Real Estate Investments, LAB Holding and Westland Real Estate Group, have all shown interest in bringing amenities and housing to North Long Beach.

At the second Long Beach Quarterly Economic Forum of the pandemic, local experts predicted an economic recovery, albeit at a slower pace than some might hope.

Carnival Cruise Line has canceled all cruises out of Long Beach until at least February 28.

Servicing two hotels still leaves Chief Engineer Perez with plenty of work on his hands, despite a significant slowdown in guest traffic during the pandemic.

For nearly nine decades, McCarty’s Jewelry has served the Belmont Shore community, a historic run set to end sometime before the end of the year.

The Long Beach Quarterly Economic Forum returns for its second installment with a virtual event Thursday, Nov. 19, from 10 a.m. to noon.