The Ma Squad

Treasurer Ma presenting at the San Diego Housing Federation’s 29th Annual Affordable Housing and Community Development Conference. The event brings together hundreds of developers, builders, architects, lenders, property managers, service providers, elected and agency officials, staff, residents, and community and business leaders to share innovative approaches to affordable housing, community, and economic development.

Treasurer Ma delivers comments during a groundbreaking ceremony for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Behavioral Health Center in Willowbrook (Los Angeles County). The Treasurer chairs the California Health Facilities Financing Authority (CHFFA) board, which approved a $40 million grant under the Investment in Mental Health Wellness Act of 2013. The grant is funding 16 new crisis residential treatment beds for the facility.

STO External Affairs outreach team colleagues representing ScholarShare, CalSavers, and CPCFA, providing information and resources at the Asian Small Business Expo held at the Quiet Cannon Conference & Event Center in Montebello.

Northern California STO External Affairs shares information on programs at the 2019 Women Veteran Alliance’s Unconference in Monterey. He was joined by program outreach teams from the STO representing ScholarShare, CalSavers, and the California Pollution Control Financing Authority (CPCFA). The Alliance provides support and resources to women who served in the military.

Treasurer Fiona Ma and senior staff members in Naples, Florida attending the annual national conference of the National Association of State Treasurers (NAST). The California State Treasurer’s Office (STO) is hosting NAST’s 2020 national conference next year in San Diego. The educational conferences give state finance officials and their staff opportunities to meet and discuss matters of mutual concern, as well as exchange information regarding best practices and innovative policies.

Treasurer Ma and California Alternative Energy & Advanced Transportation Financing Authority (CAEATFA) Executive Director Deana Carrillo (far right) visit the Trademark Brewery in Long Beach. Business owners Sterling and Ilana Steffan received a CAEATFA sales tax exclusion award of more than $156,000, allowing them to purchase $1.8 million in equipment and launch their business.

Treasurer Ma tours rPlanet Earth in Vernon, the only vertically integrated PET plastic recycling manufacturer in the world. The visit was part of a day-long up-close and personal tour of rPlanet Earth and three other innovate manufacturing businesses -- General Dynamics-NAASCO in San Diego, Edwards Lifesciences in Irvine, and Trademark Brewing in Long Beach. Collectively, the four received more than $33 million in sales tax exclusions through the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority (CAEATFA), whose board the Treasurer chairs. CAEATFA promotes high-tech and green manufacturing and recycling, providing select businesses with 100-percent sales and use tax exclusions on purchases of qualified tangible property over three years. A bill authored by Assemblymember Susan Eggman and supported by Treasurer Ma, extending the program another five years, was recently signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Treasurer Ma cohosting the Long Beach Small Business Workshop with Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia at Studio One Eleven. The event showcased the many state and local business resources and access-ways to capital available to small business owners. It included useful programs available through the Long Beach Economic Development Center and Small Business Majority. In the photo with the Treasurer are Los Angeles County Assessor Jeffrey Prang (left) Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell (second from right), and Senator Lena A. Gonzalez (right).

Treasurer Ma receiving the Kheir Clinic 33rd Anniversary Fundraising Dinner Leadership Award. From left to right: Chief Executive Officer Erin Pak, LA Health Care Plan Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr. Alexander Li, and, to the right of Treasurer Ma, Kheir Board Member Carolina Castillo. The dinner raises funds for the Korean Health Education Information and Research Center. Kheir, based in Koreatown in Los Angeles, operates five service sites and provides 60,000 clinic visits to more than 12,000 patients annually. (Photo: Kheir Center)