Los Angeles-area businesses anticipate boost for 2028 Olympics

Millions of visitors are expected to come to Southern California for the 2028 Summer Olympics and, well, they have to spend their money somewhere.

Local small business owners are well aware of that fact and are already preparing to go for gold in two years.

Cristina Ward and her husband Trevor founded downtown LA's Audio Graph Beer Company, and for six years they've endured serious blows from COVID-19 to the Hollywood strikes to inflation. This summer's FIFA World Cup brought huge groups in to watch soccer, and now, with their brewery just blocks away from Crypto.Com Arena and the LA Convention Center, they're hoping they can tap into the LA28 crowd.

"I want everybody to know that if you come to downtown LA, you have to visit me," Ward said.

LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover is cognizant of the impacts the Olympics can have on small businesses across the area. The nonprofit already employs around 1,000 people — an amount he expects to grow to about 5,000 within two years — and local businesses like Audio Graph are already feeling the growth from workers at the nearby LA28 headquarters.

Hoover, a retired Army Lt. General who has worked at the White House and for FEMA, is aiming to bring logistical and organizational expertise to the Games. He told CBS LA his team is reaching out to businesses across the region to partner with LA28.

"[We are] incorporating the culture of food, which is all about LA, in our program," he said. 

One of those ways is through RampLA, which lets interested business owners sign up for alerts and apply for opportunities during the Games, like providing ice or bringing food trucks to events. He's encouraging businesses to compete for LA28's official contracts and to position themselves for other, unofficial opportunities that come with Olympic crowds.