Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Mojave Airport a beacon for Kern’s future
By ALLISON GATLIN
The Antelope Valley (CA) Press
BAKERSFIELD – Offering the growing success of the Mojave Airport as a beacon of a bright future, Ray Watson, incoming chairman of the Kern County Board of Supervisors, painted an improving picture of the county Tuesday at the State of the County Breakfast. More than 320 people turned out at the seventh annual event, presented by the Kern County Board of Trade and sponsored by the East Kern Airport District, which governs Mojave Airport.
“For Kern County, the sky is no longer the limit,” said Allan Krauter, interim executive director of the Board of Trade and the breakfast’s master of ceremonies.
Mojave Airport, introduced to those gathered through a short video presentation that highlighted the facility’s expanding entrepreneurial aerospace industry, shifted the spotlight from the county seat in the San Joaquin Valley to the eastern section over the mountains.
Such awareness is the goal of the airport’s board of directors, “to remind folks over here that there is a lot going on in east Kern County,” said Marie Walker, president of the air district board.
Expanding employment at the airport offers the potential to raise the county’s standard of living with high-paying aerospace jobs, said district Director Jim Balentine.
