The Greater Antelope Valley Economic Alliance held its annual Investor and Ally Meeting June 8 at the Mariah Country Inn in Mojave, Calif.
Kimberly Maevers, president of the organization more commonly known as GAVEA, hosted the event and welcomed those attending.
Founded some 19 years ago, the organization is a regional economic developer and represents an area of more than 3,000 square miles here in California’s Mojave Desert.
Maevers says GAVEA is responsible for attracting, expanding and retaining businesses within 3,000 square miles.
“To do that we work with local businesses to help keep them here,” Maevers said. She said GAVEA does that by giving local companies and employers tools they need to grow and expand.
We cover the business community from Acton to Ridgecrest, from the I-5 to the San Bernardino County line,” Maevers said. She said business executives can become investors for as little as $1,000 per year. Being an investor gives access to all GAVEA’s reports and a discount for attending quarterly events.
Maevers, along with other professional leaders, consider Mojave the Antelope Valley’s epicenter of technology and points out it’s the home of some of America’s top notch technology companies that include NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, the Mojave Air and Space Port, the National Test Pilot School, the Spaceship Company, the Golden Queen Mining Company and Edwards Air Force Base, to name just a few.
Edwards is considered to be the number one economic engine here in the High Desert.
According to Dr. David G. Smith, senior installation support director for the 412th Test Wing, the base is a $3 billion a year enterprise and a participator in GAVEA. Like Maevers, Smith says the Antelope Valley is a great place to have a business. “We have great community partners here,” he said.
As a highlight of the luncheon meeting, Maevers introduced a panel of four High Desert business executives who shared why they believe Mojave is an ideal place to bring business companies.
Bill Deaver, a public and government relations consultant addressed home builders and said the High Desert desperately needs houses and day care because of the rate of company growth in the region.
Deaver informed the audience that the technology companies started locating here in the 1930s and said today the Mojave area is home to 19 rocket test sites. “More rocket engine tests are occurring here than any place on the planet,” he said, adding that the Antelope Valley is home to a variety of high tech industries as well as manufacturing, industrial and small businesses.
He said Mojave is business friendly, offers lower operation costs and is the future of aerospace for the next generation. “We work with schools and promote STEM,” he said.
Dr. Allen Petersen, president and CEO of the National Test Pilot School reached out to folks in the technical fields saying the Antelope Valley wants you and talked about the many opportunities at the school for technical personnel.
“We have a variety of aircraft and simulators and students from 30 countries,” he said, adding that the school employs highly experienced instructors.
“We’re not a flight school,” Petersen points out. “We don’t teach students how to fly, our students come to us experienced,” he said.
The National Test Pilot School also offers a flight test camp for young students.
Dale Tutt, vice president of Engineering for The Spaceship Company, said his company is always interested in talented people. “There’s cool stuff going on at The Spaceship Company,” he said. Tutt said the amount of technology here in the Antelope Valley is amazing.
Panelist Robert C. Walish, president and chief executive officer for the Golden Queen Mining Company, shared some of the opportunities available at his company and said the Golden Queen offers a wide range of skilled jobs.
Walish said his mining company is producing gold and silver at the Soledad Mountain project located just outside the town of Mojave and the company is looking for reliable people with good work ethics to help his company to grow.
He said the company’s goal is to reach 50,000 ounces of the agglomerated ore a year.
Business leaders interested in becoming investors in GAVEA can visit www.SoCalLeadingEdge.org or contact GAVEA President Kimberly Maevers at 661-722-6566.