In July the Chamber sent out a fax broadcast to it's members as a call to action. Chamber Member, Hal Bennet of Bennet Optical Research requested the Chamber's help when funding for Selene Project was on Governor Pete Wilson's desk. You made it happen! The Selene Project was granted the $500,000 in state matching grants and has moved on to the next step in getting private investment capitol. Thanks! Now that's teamwork!

IWV 2000 Your Community Economic Development Corporation

IWV 2000 launched it's fundraising campaign in July 1996. "Jobs! Jobs! Jobs!" Says Mike Page, Chairman of the organization at that time. "That's what we're all about", agrees current Chairman Harris Brokke. The plan includes matching funds from the City, County, State, Federal, and business contributions. Volunteers are working on business plans that are being formulated into a master plan for growth. Some parts include: Selene Project, Retirement, Sowthwest Complex, and Business Recruitment.

Major renovations are continuing at Inyokern Airport, bringing a more modern look to the aging terminal. The Indian Wells Valley Airport District was granted nearly $800,000 in federal funds for the 1996-97 airport/projects, one of them being terminal renovations. The remodeling contract was awarded to Imperial Construction Services, Inc. with a bid of $290,000. Working alongside Imperial was C. Martin Company." Next in line for the airport are new taxiways, a lift to the airplanes for disabled passengers and possibly new airfield signs. An estimated 48,000 passengers annually use the Inyokern facilities.

KEDC Chamber Joins Kern Economic Development Corporation

In partnership with the City of Ridgecrest the Ridgecrest Chamber of Commerce joined the KEDC headquartered in Bakersfield.The KEDC provides leads from businesses looking to move to Kern County. The Chamber will follow up with these business and make sure any new business knows everything there is to know about our city.

Ridgecrest Chamber of Commerce has an exciting new web page on the Internet. Shane Vaughn of Nucleus Multimedia designed the web page for the Chamber, using pictures and information provided to him by Bob Peoples and Elaine Wooten. Vaughn explained the value of the web page and its layout. "A lot more companies are on the Internet now. Small companies are learning that it is a place for them as well. Having a web page means having a wider sales area. Not just selling to Ridgecrest or IWV but to somebody who lives in Minnesota. They could want products from here as well," he said.

On the front page you find a button strip that takes you to General Services, where you'll find the Chamber Mission Statement, information on business start up kits, a monthly luncheon segment, and pictures of the previous Business After Hours event. In the future, event information will be announced here as it becomes available.

For an overview of the city, what goes on here, and why people should move here call up the Economic Development page. This page also provides links to IWV 2000, RBTIC, SCORE, and the Naval Air Warfare Center pages.

Feel free to Explore!