Los Angeles is at risk of losing its tech wizards, according to a new study.

“Talent is leaving Los Angeles,” said Donna Harris, chief executive of Washington, D.C., research firm 1776, which prepared the report along with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. “Something is causing people not to stay in the city.”

Researchers compiling the report found that many young professionals who graduate from top universities in Los Angeles County are getting jobs elsewhere. 

But Jason Nazar, chief executive of Santa Monica startup Comparably, dismissed some of the findings. He acknowledged that young professionals sometimes leave Los Angeles because of the high living costs, but said working opportunities here are more bountiful than anywhere else. 

“In the tech space, we’re doing the best we’ve ever done in terms of retention,” he said. “We have more tech companies than we’ve ever had.”

Chris Rico, director of innovation for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., agreed, saying Silicon Beach is going to attract a lot of young professionals, who flee Silicon Valley because of high living costs there. 

“Before we produced a lot of engineers and didn’t keep them, but that’s changing,” he said. “With so many high-tech companies coming to town, engineers will be willing to stay in Los Angeles.” 

Los Angeles was ranked seventh in the study’s evaluation of which U.S. cities are best positioned to lead the digital economy.

Exports Decline

March was a poor month for exports from California, as the value of goods produced in the state for export dipped to $13.8 billion, an 8.2 percent decline from the same period last year, according to data released earlier this month by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

“A strong dollar is making our goods more expensive and hard to sell oversees,” said Art Wong, a Port of Long Beach spokesman.

California accounted for 11 percent of all U.S. exports in March, trailing only Texas, which accounted for 17 percent.

“For a couple of reasons, the fall-off in the state’s export trade from a year earlier is not as severe as it looks,” Jock O’Connell, international trade adviser at Century City’s Beacon Economics, said in a statement accompanying an analysis of the data. “There was a major surge in seaport activity last year right after the late February 2015 settlement of a months-long longshore labor dispute that had export containers stacked up on the docks.”

The export of goods manufactured in California dropped to $8.95 billion last month, a decline of 7.7 percent from the year-earlier period, according to Beacon.

The volume of goods flowing into West Coast ports, including the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, was 43.6 percent of all goods coming into the country in March. That, too, was down from a year earlier, when the West Coast ports received half of all goods.

Local ports and the shippers that dock at them have been hit especially hard as the Chinese economy has slowed.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach reported a combined 21 percent decline in inbound container traffic compared with the previous month. March’s numbers were the lowest since February of last year, when labor turmoil slowed traffic.

The value of containerized goods sent from Asia to the United States in March was $16.9 billion, according to Commerce Department data, a decrease from $25.1 billion a month earlier. West Coast ports handled 78 percent of the $16.9 billion in containerized goods that came from China in March.

Cleaning Up

Polluting trucks operating at ports and rail yards are getting a spring cleaning.

As part of a program to reduce emissions and cut dependence on fossil fuels, the state of California has granted $23.6 million to the Air Quality Management District for the cleanup.

The California Climate Investments program exists to cut smog pollutants and toxic fumes at busy transit centers, including the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

“This is good news and means cleaner air for all Californians, but especially those who live in neighborhoods next to these industrial facilities or along some of our state’s busiest trade corridors,” said Mary Nichols, air resources board chairwoman, in a statement.

Cargo transportation near ports accounts for 45 percent of the emissions that form ozone and 6 percent of all greenhouse gases in California, according to the AQMD.

The program will pay for a cleanup in communities neighboring the sister ports, provide funds to companies that manufacture medium and heavy-duty trucks, and purchase 43 electric and plug-in hybrid trucks to operate at West Coast ports.

Staff reporter Olga Grigoryants can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 226.