By Nick Diamantides, Staff Writer
Last week, Susan Cooper announced she was retiring as executive director of the Bixby Knolls Business Improvement Association (BKBIA). Her resignation is effective October 5, but she will remain as a contract employee until January.
“With BKBIA elections coming up and the Christmas season just around the corner, it might be asking too much for the new executive director to take on all at once,” she explained.
Cooper’s brother recently acquired a Liberty Tax franchise in Torrance and she agreed to manage it.
“It’s a good business opportunity for us, and it will allow me to be closer to my two elderly parents who live in Gardena and need more care and attention,” she said. “I just feel this is the right thing to do.”
Cooper began working part time for BKBIA in March 2006, while completing her bachelor’s degree in Asian American Studies at California State University, Long Beach. Upon graduating in May of that year, she became the association’s full-time executive director.
“I’ve enjoyed my job here immensely,” she said. “These are all wonderful people to work with.” She explained that the organization’s board of directors is a very dedicated group of business people who volunteer their time to improve the business climate in Bixby Knolls.
According to Cooper, the Long Beach City Council, at the request of business owners, established a Bixby Knolls business improvement assessment district in the late 1980s with the boundaries extending from the 405 Freeway to 46th Street and from the Atlantic Avenue corridor to the Long Beach Boulevard corridor.
“BKBIA was established as a nonprofit corporation in 1993 and the council gave it the authority to spend funds on projects that would improve the area,” she said. “Right now we are working on a visioning process for streetscape improvements that will make the district more pedestrian-friendly.”
She explained that BKBIA has contracted with Genecker Solutions (a consulting firm) to develop the plan, but it will be taken to the association’s members to get their input and support before it is implemented.
The BKBIA has an annual budget of about $160,000. Staff salary, rent for the office space at 4313 Atlantic Avenue, utilities and promotional advertising all come from that budget.
“Obviously, we cannot afford the streetscape renovations without additional funding from Long Beach or the redevelopment agency,” Cooper said. “We’re going to need support from as broad of a base as possible when we finally bring our streetscape plan to the city or the agency for funding.”
Cooper noted that the BKBIA has accomplished much and built strong grass-roots support in the past 14 years, but now it is time for a new phase.
“Bixby Knolls is on the cusp of becoming a destination location that attracts visitors from a wide area,” she said. “But in order to make that happen, BKBIA is going to have to focus more on building strong relationships with the city, because that’s where the resources are.”
Cooper and her husband David live in a small, unincorporated county area in the midst of East Long Beach. “We’re not planning on moving,” she said. “We love our neighborhood.”
