Economic summit shines spotlight on Kern’s lower-profile industries
The energy sector has long occupied such a central position in the local economy that, when it spun off several years ago from the annual Kern County Economic Summit, less prominent industries couldn’t help but benefit.
That may have been truer Thursday morning than ever before as previously underappreciated industries around Kern County — tourism, aerospace and ag tech — took center stage in front of hundreds of people gathered inside the Bakersfield Marriott at the Convention Center.
Their inclusion in panel and other discussions Thursday generated its own kind of optimism, in that the audience of business and government leaders heard compelling cases for bestowing greater attention and investment on the region’s promising but overlooked clusters.
Oil and renewable energy, the region’s signature industries, did receive mention at Thursday’s event, certainly when recognition was given to their contributions to the wider economy. But it was the underdogs that stole the show.
A panel of recreation and entertainment professionals made the case that hospitality not only represents a natural opportunity for Kern County, but that it deserves greater help from other players in the local economy.
Justin Powers, the founder of Kernville Cowork who’s leading an effort to build a community hub in Lake Isabella, noted the Kern River Valley draws most of its visitors from the Los Angeles Basin and overseas. Greater local benefits await, he said, if the region can attract greater resources.
“It doesn’t take a lot of investment to trigger a lot of economic impacts,” he said.
Co-panelist Kari Crutcher, executive director of the Ridgecrest Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, acknowledged that the city isn’t usually thought of as a destination. But she said that as a full-service community calling itself the Gateway to Death Valley, Ridgecrest is “a great stop on your way” to major tourism hot spots.
President Chris Kelley of the new Hard Rock Casino Tejon added employment considerations to the discussion. More than three-quarters of the casino’s employees are native to Kern, he said, and as part of that, the facility’s turnover rate is half that of the company’s other properties.
“That’s extremely impactful in a business like ours,” he said.
Kelley added that the casino’s performance has exceeded expectations: It’s on track to attract about 3 million visitors per year — 50% more than was anticipated, he said — and the share coming from L.A. is twice to four times the expected rate.
Earlier in the four-hour event, aerospace and its brother in arms, eastern Kern’s defense sector, shed new light on challenges like housing, education and healthcare that need to be addressed if the industry is to live up to its full employment potential.
Moderator Justin Salters elicited insights from aerospace and defense panelists, some of whom took the opportunity to share what happens when recruits bring specialized skills from around the country, only to land in a region where imperative healthcare may be a two-hour drive away.
Simply finding housing can be a challenge, said Col. Christopher J. Carnduff, commander of the 412th Mission Support Group at Edwards Air Force Base. Forty-five minute drives to work don’t support the base’s mission, he said, adding that local partnerships with housing developers would help.
Housing, education and healthcare “are constraints to growth,” he said, adding that lack of infrastructure needs to be addressed if the region wants to attract additional high-paying jobs.
Executive Vice President Jennifer Santiago at aerospace manufacturing company Scaled Composites called housing and quality of life among the company’s “biggest challenges,” even as the severity of the problem varies person to person.