ARVIN, Calif. (KERO) — Newly sworn-in Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling visited Kern County on Tuesday, touring agricultural and logistics operations and sitting down with 23ABC for a one-on-one interview following a tour and roundtable at Grimmway Farms in Arvin.
Sonderling made two stops in Kern County on Tuesday — one at the Wonderful Logistics Center in Shafter in the morning, and the second at Grimmway Farms in the afternoon.
"This produces some of the best, and most, agriculture for the entire United States, and this is an industry this administration really cares about," Sonderling said.
Following his time at Grimmway, Sonderling told 23ABC he was in Kern County for the opportunity to hear employers' workforce challenges and to find ways to encourage more people to pursue careers in agriculture.
One of the key points Sonderling said he came away with from the trip is a need for people to be tech-savvy in the agricultural world.
"Whether it's automation, working with the automation, and that's a new skill that workers are going to need, and they're going to need it very specific to agriculture. So a big part of this too is not just working with employers in this field, but also talking to the workforce development boards, talking to community colleges, talking to the Pre-K-12 system of how we can get those skills that are changing in agriculture into schools," Sonderling said.
When looking at Kern County unemployment data, historically it is higher than the state average, with the agricultural industry being seasonal — unemployment peaks through the winter and falls through the summer months regularly.
When asked how Kern County could better tackle that, Sonderling pointed to the administration's interest in bringing back manufacturing jobs and his visit to the Wonderful logistics center earlier Tuesday.
"One of my visits here today was at Wonderful and just seeing that incredible facility they're building. Those are jobs that are not seasonal, and they require a new skill because of the level of technology that are going into those logistics facilities," said Sonderling. "The jobs that come with this are trade and technical skills jobs, and those jobs skills haven't been taught in school. So we're really working with employers to bring these high-paying, high-skilled jobs back."
Sonderling isn't headed back to Washington, D.C., just yet. After the interview, he said the trip continues down to Los Angeles.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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