'This is Kern County': New video highlights county inclusivity, diversity

Dec. 2—Kern County officials on Thursday unveiled their newest promotional ad. Its aim: showing people how diverse and fun Kern can be.

Titled "This is Kern County," the four-minute commercial is the latest effort by the county since it began its rebranding campaign in 2017. The video, according to Kern County Chief Communications Officer Ally Soper, is a "love letter" to the county based on a poem she wrote earlier this year.

By Friday morning, the video had attracted more than 30,000 views on the county's social media channels, she said.

"Our priority is to bolster economic development and to make sure people see what we have to offer," Soper said. "The outpouring of support online is validation that people are proud to be from here."

Since 2017, the county has focused on its self-image and the way it presents itself to the rest of the state. They coined the phrases "Grounded and Boundless" (for the county) and "The Sound of Something Better" (for the city of Bakersfield), in reference to the region's undulating landscape and original music genre.

The video was developed at no cost to the county by local production company Beacon Studios. Soper said the county utilized $43,000 of federal grant funding dedicated to tourism-based projects.

The commercial depicts situations of diversity within the many traditional quarters of the region, from horseback riding to celebrations, and ends with a diverse, red-checkered dinner at Luigi's Restaurant. Scenes of music festivals, bar-hopping, athletes and bright, young engineers are spliced in tight succession with farmers and oil workers.

Their efforts, officials hope, will continue to drum up new businesses post-COVID, further encourage tourism to the area and spark an interest around Kern.

"We wanted to make sure no community was left behind," Soper said. "We cried, we laughed and celebrated by sharing our story."

Soper said no specific audience was intended for the video, though she hopes the video may be used to recruit new members to the community.

"It was created to be a free resource for our colleges to recruit, for businesses to show potential investors and for people who may want to move here," she said.

Kern County, which extends over 8,100 square miles in the southern Central Valley, is one of the largest counties in the state. It is colloquially described as the "Texas of California" in part due to its roots in old-western traditions. Its chief industries, oil and agriculture, are the staple of a blue-collar economy around which the county's culture has long gravitated. They are the driving force behind many of the issues the region faces and the opportunities by which it has reaped.

"That video, two to three years from now, will most likely be used by employers of public or private industry to showcase the region and recruit talent here," said Nick Ortiz, president and CEO of the Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce. "That will be the best use of it."

In a 2018 study conducted by North Star Destination Strategies, a Nashville-based research firm, respondents reported mixed feelings about Kern, saying they believed the area was good for businesses and housing, due to its low cost of entry and general affordability.

"This (video) plays on that study," Soper said. "This is part of that, using our research and feedback from residents to show that Kern is innovative and to let residents walk tall knowing we play a part in the global impact."

Soper pointed to the Tejon Indian Tribe's recent win to build a Hard Rock casino resort near Bakersfield. The 52-acre casino will cost approximately $600 million to build and expects to generate $60 million annually for the local economy. A thousand temporary construction positions and nearly 4,000 permanent jobs are expected to come as a result of the 320-acre greater business park, which will include a healthcare clinic, offices and housing.

During COVID, Kern was one of the few California counties that grew in population, as city slickers ditched larger cities for cheaper rent, backyards and shorter commutes.

"One can obtain business success and homeownership here that's not happening in bigger metro areas," Ortiz said. "This is a place where you can experience the American Dream in California."

In contrast, respondents also complained of the region's poor air quality, conservative values, homelessness and a general lack of things to do. Ortiz pointed to a 2015 report by The Guardian that reported "police in Kern County, California, have killed more people per capita than in any other American county in 2015."

"Look, air quality will always be an issue," Ortiz said. "But there's a lot of misconceptions about our region by people who haven't spent time here. People who think of us as old-fashioned don't realize how diverse we are or how vibrant our institutions are."

Ortiz said that since the 2018 study was published, the city and county have worked with community groups to solve the issues mentioned and change the "statewide dialogue" on Kern. He referenced efforts like the Blue Zone Project — a community healthcare improvement initiative — and the recent California Economic Summit as just two examples of the image the city wants to present.

"There is a very concerted effort, a systematic approach to not just put a pretty picture out but address factors that decrease our economic competitiveness," Ortiz said. "Our story we tell is that not only are we powering California's economy through agriculture and energy, but we are also a future innovation hub that the state needs."

According to Justin Salters, spokesman for the A Better Bakersfield and Boundless Kern (B3K), a local economic group, Kern County needs to attract more employers, especially local business.

"Not just people moving to the region but having work for people who are already here so they can obtain that self-sufficiency," Salters said.

The initiative, since it was formed in early 2020, has acted as a liaison between the private, public and civic sectors. It gets everyone in the same room and on the same page on economic issues specific to Kern. Their philosophy, Salters said, is more about making the existing economy here more inclusive than just bringing more jobs to the area.

"Our priority is bringing together stakeholders that can bring in good, promising jobs," Salters said.

In a March 2021 market report, researchers partnered with B3K found that more than half of Kern County residents belong to struggling families, meaning that they could not take care of themselves financially and had little to no chance for upward mobility. The same report found that roughly 30 percent of the jobs in the region are considered good paying jobs.

"Reality is we have a large number of these struggling, working families," Salters said. "These are people with jobs but their income is not enough to take care of themselves."

Salters said he found the video encouraging, because he sees it for the work that has been done already, rather than the work to come.

"Sometimes it can be overwhelming to face these continual challenges every day," he said. "That video is an encouragement and reminder of the effects of the work we've done."