Tehachapi News

Successes, challenges revealed at business outlook conference

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At the 2009 Business Outlook Conference on Friday, Oct. 2, Tehachapi Mayor Linda Vernon asked one last question before turning over the microphone: “Will we see the glass half-full, or half-empty?”

A slew of speakers offered a glimpse of both.

Some of East Kern County's biggest business players convened for the conference, held at GE Energy on Jameson Road, to discuss ways the region could thrive despite a boggy economic climate.

“You're feeling the pinch and so are we,” said Tehachapi City Manager Greg Garrett.

The conference was also an unveiling of T.E.A.M, which stands for Tehachapi Economic Alliance Committee, and is the combined effort of Tehachapi City Hall, Tehachapi Chamber of Commerce, Main Street, Tehachapi Unified School District and Economic Development Council.

“Today, if we don't partner, we fail,” Garrett said.

District 2 county supervisors Don Maben said Kern County has 900 fewer employees than it did one year ago. Maben, however, talked up the area's wind energy prospects, saying East Kern could still flourish while others weren't.

“Wind will be the new oil patch in California,” he said. “We're going to be an energizing capitol.”

Linda Parker, executive director of the Kern Wind Energy Association, said dignitaries from around the world have visited and toured wind farms in the Tehachapi region.

Parker said her goal was to get new wind turbines cemented into the ground before Maben steps down from his county seat in December 2010.

“We've been working extremely hard to get to where we are,” Parker said.

Jeff Duff, co-founder of Airstreams Renewables, Inc., a company that trains renewable energy industry workers, called East Kern County “one of the richest renewable resource areas” in the nation.

That's the main reason East Kern was chosen yet again as a site for new wind turbines, said Randy Hoyle, vice president of development for Terra-Gen Power. Terra-Gen is currently overseeing the proposed Alta-Oak Creek Mojave Project, which could bring 290 new turbines - some standing as high as approximately 475 feet - and more than $1 billion in property taxes to the region, Hoyle said.

“It's here, it's in your backyard,” he said. Hoyle also said the project would inject about $30 million dollars per year into the region's economy, and create 50 permanent jobs and 200 short-term construction jobs.

Hoyle said Terra-Gen would hold an information session at the Tehachapi Veterans Hall Oct. 27 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. for anyone wanting to know more about the project.

Proposed new hospital Project Manager Norm Clendenin showed a multimedia presentation of what the hospital would look like when built.

Clendenin said it would take time, support and about $66 million to build a quality hospital like the one projected.

On Nov. 3, Tehachapi residents can approve or deny a $50 million bond that would help pay for the construction of the hospital

“Let's get this hospital built,” Clendenin told the audience.

Real estate picture dark

The conference didn't have an entirely positive tint, however.

Linda Costelloe-Clough, Tehachapi Area Association of Realtors president-elect, said she “felt like the Grim Reaper” in revealing the area's real estate situation.

Costelloe-Clough said the median price of homes in Kern County had dropped 31.2 percent compared with last year. She said foreclosures nationwide would continue, but “to what extent, we really don't know.”

“It's a great time to buy a house,” she said. “For sellers, it's not so good.”

KERO 23 news anchor and conference emcee Mike Hart moderated a panel discussion consisting of four Tehachapi business owners: Pacino's Spaghetti Factory co-owner Frank Spaccarelli, Expressions Hair and Nail Salon co-owner Ted Fowler, Hodad's Surf Shack owner Linda Lubic and Old Towne Nursery owner Tim Kielpinski.
Panelists offered conference-goers small business advice, and reasons why they chose to open up in Tehachapi.

“It's 45 minutes to a mall, so I have a chance to get them before they go to the mall,” Lubic said, on the five-year anniversary of her store's opening.

Kielpinski said owning a business offered certain perks, like being able to ski in the winter months when business is slow.

“Now if you guys start showing up in the winter, I'll stop going skiing,” he said.

The panelists were also asked what city or county government could do to make owning a small business in Tehachapi easier.

Spaccarelli said he didn't agree with certain city restrictions on hanging banners.

“Just let us do our thing,” Spaccarelli said. “We're doing good things for the community.”

Lubic agreed regarding the banners.

“It's not a big thing, it's a small thing,” she said.

Fowler called the business regulation process “slow,” and called fees that come with owning a business “punitive.”

“It's like trying to push a noodle,” he said.

Winemaking in Tehachapi

Bob Souza, owner of Souza Vineyard & Tasting Room, held in the audience in near-constant chuckling while offering anecdotes about his business.

“We don't even exist on GPS,” said Souza, who joked the conference caused him to miss his first day of work at the vineyard since opening it in July of 2008.

Souza described a story of how a friend showed him a plot of land that would eventually become his vineyard and tasting room.

“He said, 'It's down a real' fill-in-the-blank 'road, but it's worth it,'” Souza said. “That really describes Tehachapi, doesn't it?”

Souza said he recently reached 11,000 customers since opening, and has constantly pushed patrons toward visit other Tehachapi businesses and restaurants.

The region was now garnering a distinct identity, Souza said.

“Tehachapi is no longer being confused with Temecula,” he said.

Water issue still hot

California State Assemblymember Jean Fuller, R-Bakersfield, said she was fighting for the acceptance of a comprehensive water bond, which could bring more water to drought-stricken communities like Tehachapi.

“This is an issue affecting all hard-working Californians,” Fuller said.

Fuller said she hoped a special assembly session could be called from Oct. 10 to 13 to discuss and draft a proposed bond, which she estimated would be between $8 billion and $13 billion.

“We still have things we can do,” Fuller said. “The world is not going to end.”

When asked by an audience member when the State of California would stop taking money from local communities, Fuller replied, “When you get enough people in the Assembly to vote to not take it away.”

Edwards Air Force Base Major General David J. Eichorn said East Kern County was the prime spot for military aircraft testing.

Eichorn said the base's population fell by 900 compared with 2008, and that some potential employees had concerns about the Tehachapi area, including its schools.

“What you do here on the mountain affects the base,” he said.

This prompted Tehachapi Unified School District Superintendent Richard L. Swanson to later say during a question-and-answer period, “We've got two more schools qualified for distinguished schools.”