By John Tunnell

Week four of the tour kicked off in California beginning with a visit to the Port of San Diego. Our visit to the port was accompanied by Bella Heule, the president and CEO of the San Diego World Trade Center; Kevin Carroll, the executive director of the American Electronics Association and Ben Haddad, the vice chairman of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce. They were very excited about our tour and especially interested in our member’s products we had on display, all of which are available internationally thanks to trade agreements we have with many countries. For California the consumer electronics industry – fueled by trade – directly contributes over $200 billion in economic activity to the state economy which is about 12 percent of California’s GDP and represents more than 2.3 million California jobs.

Our next stop was a short trip up Route 5 to Westminster, CA, the home of a Ken Crane’s Home Entertainment City. We were greeted by the store manager and shortly thereafter by the owners of the company, Pam and Casey Crane. Originally founded by Ken Crane in 1949, the business is now managed by Ken’s daughter Pam and son Casey. Presently they own and operate ten stores in the Los Angeles area and rely very heavily on the supply of products manufactured throughout the world all made possible by existing free trade agreements.

Shown (left to right): John Tunnell, vice president of Member Relations, CEA; and from Ken Crane’s Home Entertainment:  Pam Crane, executive vice president; Casey Crane, president; and Steven Caldero, senior VP and COO.

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