Category: Darryl Holter Los Angeles, Shammas Group, Figueroa Corridor Partnership
Darryl Holter Shammas Group CEO
BEFORE
DARRYL HOLTER COULD FORM A BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT
District (BID) for the Figueroa Corridor in the late 1990s, Darryl Holter had to convince civic leaders of the Corridors importance. One of the first orders of business was both a conceptual and geographic one: Holter needed to re-set the common perception that Downtown’s southerly border was Olympic or Ninth or 11th Street, and argue instead that the city center incorporated Figueroa, south to the University of Southern California and Exposition Park.
"We listen to everything, whether it's the University doing something or a guy who's fixing his steps on a home he owns." - Darryl Holter.
To that end, The Shammas Group's
Darryl Holter persuaded Central City Association head Carol Schatz to create the staff a standing committee called the Figueroa Corridor Committee. Then the Community Redevelopment Agency agreed to fund an economic study of the Figueroa Corridor published in early 1998. Both the CCA committee and the CRA study gave the fledgling new BID momentum. In the decade since the Figueroa Corridor Partnership’s formation, Holter has gone on to do other things to buttress its work – in particular, he is interested in initiatives that focus on Sought Los Angeles. “I’m very concerned with the uneven development in the city. There’s a lot of economic activity on the Westside and the Valley and the Downtown center, but on the other hand, there’s not much development going on in South L.A. except subsidized housing.”
Darryl Holter was elected to, and now chairs, the Community Redevelopment Agency’s CAC (Community Advisory Commission) for Exposition Park and University Park. All new projects in those areas, from developers and stakeholders, go through the commission. “We listen to everything, whether it’s the University doing something or a guy who’s fixing his steps on a home he owns. We listen to all the things that go on and we approve them, or if we have questions, we demand more information and suggest that they make certain changes. We get into everything from landscaping to lighting to now nice it’s going to be when people walk by. We give people in the community some voice.
Darryl Holter is the CEO of the Shammas Group. He was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and received a BA and MA from the University of Minnesota. He completed a Ph.D. in History from the University of Wisconsin. He has worked as academic, a specialist in industrial relations, and since 1995 as CEO of the Shammas Group.
In 1998 Holter was the Founding Chair of the Figueroa Corridor Partnership, a business improvement district formed in the Figueroa Corridor district south of Downtown Los Angeles. He also serves as Chairman of the California New Car Dealers Association.
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Darryl Holter. Photo by Gary Leonard.
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Additional Reading:
Darryl Holter and the Shammas Group Helped the Figueroa Corridor Grow
Darryl Holter and Los Angeles Trade Tech
