The Room Where Beverly Hills’ Most Important Business Conversations Happen

There’s a lunch happening in Beverly Hills every month that most people don’t know about.

No name tags. No speed networking. No elevator pitches. Just a carefully curated group of the city’s most influential business leaders, senior city officials, Rodeo Drive brand managers, major property owners, financial advisors, attorneys, and policymakers sitting down together to hear from someone who has something genuinely worth saying.

That’s the Economic Development Council. And if you’re not in the room, you’re missing conversations that shape how business gets done in this city.

Who’s Been at the Table

The EDC’s speaker history tells you everything you need to know about the caliber of this group.

Former Presidential Candidate and Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis has addressed the council. So has Los Angeles Dodgers President Stan Kasten, Metro CEO Phil Washington, and the Consul Generals of France, Germany, and Israel. The thread connecting every one of these conversations is the same: intelligence you won’t find anywhere else in the city, delivered directly to the people who can act on it.

That tradition carried into 2026 with one of the EDC’s most memorable seasons yet.

January opened with California State Treasurer Fiona Ma, the state’s 34th Treasurer, the first woman of color elected to the position, and the primary banker for the world’s fourth-largest economy joining members for a substantive conversation on economic development, infrastructure investment, and the financial strategies powering California’s long-term growth. Her office processes roughly $3 trillion in banking transactions a year and oversees an investment portfolio averaging $165 billion. The conversation she brought to the EDC table wasn’t theory. It was the real mechanics of how California funds its future — and what it means for Beverly Hills businesses navigating that landscape. One attendee called it “exactly the kind of access you can’t find anywhere else in the city.”

In February, the room shifted to something immediately practical. Kelly Scott, partner and Employment Law Department Chair at Ervin, Cohen & Jessup LLP, a Southern California Super Lawyers honoree every year since 2006, and a former Chairman of the Beverly Hills Chamber’s own Board of Directors, presented to a packed house on the new employment laws affecting California businesses in 2026. With City Councilmember Sharona R. Nazarian, Chamber President & CEO Todd Johnson, and Senior Vice President of Economic Development & Government Affairs Blair Schlecter among those in attendance, it was exactly the kind of session that turns policy into practice.

March brought a different kind of insight. Frank Mottek, one of Southern California’s most respected voices in business journalism, host of Mottek On Money on 790 KABC, and a trusted economic reporter through multiple market cycles including the 2008 financial crisis, took the podium as both speaker and narrator, helping members make sense of where the economy is heading and what it means on the ground for their businesses and investments.

April introduced the built environment. Chris Rivielle, President and CEO of Plant Construction, a firm recognized on Engineering News-Record’s Top 100 Construction Managers at-Risk list and among California’s Top 10 renovation contractors — brought more than two decades of construction and real estate development experience to the table. Having worked with firms including Moody’s, Bloomberg, and Citigroup, and previously as Senior Vice President at Tishman Construction, Rivielle offered members a ground-level view of how development, renovation, and investment intersect in a city like Beverly Hills.

In May, the conversation turned to the technology transforming how businesses operate. Elad Lavi, Founder and CEO of LionEdge AI and host of the podcast Scaling Business in the AI Era, cut through the noise on artificial intelligence with the kind of clarity this audience demands: not theory, but results. Lavi’s focus is on custom automation that saves time, reduces costs, and drives revenue a direct and practical conversation for business owners navigating a landscape that’s changing faster than most can track.

And the EDC’s program has continued to expand beyond the boardroom. Members have had lunch at BSH Home Appliances, gathered at the Gravitas Private Social Club, and gone behind the scenes of the Rose Parade with CEO David Eads. CA State Senator Ben Allen closed out the previous year with a wide-ranging briefing on statewide legislation, environmental policy, and the business landscape heading into 2025. Most recently, Adam Burke President & CEO of the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board, a 30-year industry veteran, and the executive overseeing the global strategy for one of the world’s most influential visitor economies joined the council to discuss how tourism, major events, and public-private partnerships fuel regional economic vitality ahead of two of the most consequential moments in Los Angeles history: the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Olympic Games.

This isn’t a lecture series. It’s access.

What Membership Actually Means

At $2,700 annually, EDC membership is a considered investment — and it’s designed to be. The exclusivity isn’t incidental; it’s what makes the room worth being in.

Members receive monthly intelligence on regional business trends and economic activity across Beverly Hills and the greater Los Angeles region — not filtered through a press release or a panel discussion, but delivered directly in conversation with the people creating those trends. The monthly luncheons rotate through some of the city’s most distinctive private venues, and the format is intentionally intimate: high-signal speakers, real dialogue, and a network of peers who have been doing serious business in this city for decades.

Attendance is by membership or invitation only. That’s not a formality. It’s what keeps the quality of conversation consistent year after year.

Why Now

Beverly Hills is in a consequential moment. Development decisions, business policy, regional infrastructure, and economic partnerships are all being shaped in real time. The EDC exists precisely for this: to keep the city’s business leadership informed, connected, and positioned to influence what comes next.

If you’ve been watching from the outside, this is your invitation to be part of the conversation.

Join the Economic Development Council

EDC membership is open to Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce members. Annual investment is $2,700, with access to all monthly luncheon programs, exclusive speaker events, and a network of the region’s most respected business professionals.

To learn more or apply for membership, contact Blair Schlecter, Government Affairs VP, at the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce.

Because the most important conversations in this city don’t always make the headlines, but they do happen at this table.

Learn More: Economic Development Council