Bakersfield can showcase its strengths and challenges

For some reason, Bakersfield and Kern County often are easily ignored. Local concerns seem to be pushed aside by state elected and appointed officials. In other words, Bakersfield sometimes gets no respect.

But that will change in October of next year when Bakersfield hosts the 11th annual two-day California Economic Summit — a statewide event that brings together policymakers, civic leaders, business representatives and just interested folks.

The location of the annual event moves around to different cities to showcase areas of the state. Mostly the event is held in larger cities, such as Los Angeles, San Diego and Sacramento. This year, the summit was held in Monterey; two years ago, in Fresno.

Bakersfield is experienced at hosting events. After all, for years the city hosted attorney George Martin’s annual Bakersfield Business Conference, a business lollapalooza that drew thousands of national and international attendees and world-renowned speakers, and featured a stunning array of entertainment.

For those who did not live in Bakersfield to see Martin’s conferences, they are difficult to describe. Hardly anyone in Bakersfield was left out of the excitement, as thousands of visitors poured into the city and locals attended or volunteered as staff. Organizers of next year’s California Economic Summit would be well-served to invite the attorney-showman to sprinkle some of his magic on their event.

With a population of more than 389,000, Bakersfield is the state’s ninth largest city and the nation’s 51st largest. Kern is the 12th largest county in California, with a population of more than 913,000.

It deserves to be respected and understood for its strengths and its challenges. Its two major industries — energy and agriculture — often are subject to the whims of state policymakers and regulators, with little regard for the local consequences.

With the involvement of area businesses and residents, the California Economic Summit should be used to gain greater statewide support.

As Nick Ortiz, president and CEO of the Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce, explained, the summit “gives us a platform to inform statewide leaders about our unique challenges in feeding, fueling and energizing the rest of the state, while showing off our vibrant community.”

“Honestly, it sounds maybe a little bit cheesy, if you will, but the fact of the matter is the coastal part of California needs to be introduced to the inner part of the state,” said former Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin, co-chair of the summit’s creator, California Forward.

Swearengin said the summit reflects Gov. Gavin Newsom’s efforts to invite inland California to the proverbial table. She credited the efforts of Kern’s B3K prosperity economic collaboration for promoting Bakersfield as the site of next year’s California Economic Summit.

Acknowledging that hosting the summit will be a lot of work and requires local money to be raised to make it a success, Swearengin said Bakersfield residents should be encouraged by the city’s selection to host the event, which will move the state forward and bring together people from across political ideologies, regions and industries.

“We’re looking forward to highlighting Kern County’s unique strengths as the leading oil and renewable energy producer in the state, an agriculture powerhouse and a region with geophysical advantages for carbon capture and sequestration,” said California Forward CEO Micah Weinberg, noting the region can be a “model proving that traditional industry sectors can reinvent themselves in a climate-friendly and economically powerful way.”

With less than a year to prepare and make the upcoming California Economic Summit in Bakersfield a success, the event deserves the community’s support and financial backing.