Dive Brief:
- Former NBA star Earvin "Magic" Johnson resigned from his position on the board of payment company Square Inc. after his new infrastructure fund JLC Loop Capital Partners raised $1.3 billion in the first quarter of 2016, The Wall Street Journal reported.
- Johnson said the fund’s quick start, due to an unexpected $1 billion investment from its first investor, means the fund will "require a significant and unwavering time commitment."
- Johnson said he started JLC to develop infrastructure projects in the wake of President Barack Obama’s announcement that the U.S. government would spend as much as $12 trillion on infrastructure over the next decade.
Dive Insight:
Despite the Obama Administration's pledge for an influx in infrastructure funding, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) reported last week that the U.S. will give up as many as 2.5 million jobs and $4 trillion in gross domestic product over the next decade if it can’t close $1.44 trillion infrastructure funding gap. The association said the U.S. has made allowances for only $1.88 trillion of the required $3.32 trillion.
In a separate infrastructure initiative, the Department of Transportation has introduced its "Every Place Counts Design Challenge" — a competition that allows local governments with specific infrastructure problems a chance to work with experts and to change those transportation layouts that are holding their communities back from employment opportunities, social interaction and access to transportation. Four communities will win a DOT design overhaul of a transportation project in progress, as well as funding advice and other transportation-related guidance.
Since leaving the NBA, Johnson has devoted his time to developing various business interests and is a co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers as well as the new Major League soccer franchise, the Los Angeles Football Club. The Los Angeles City Council recently approved the soccer club's proposal to build a privately funded, $250 million, 15-acre stadium complex.