MOJAVE, Calif. (KERO) — Excitement has been building up for the Pacific Steel Group in Mojave, which is expected to bring about 400 jobs in mid 2027.
- Pacific Steel is the first steel mill built in California in 50 years.
- Many in the steel industry said a steel mill in California could not be done, Mark Olson says, but he's out to prove them wrong.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Construction continues at the Pacific Steel Group in Mojave. I'm Steve Virgen, your neighborhood reporter here for an inside look about the company and the anticipation building for a target date of 2027.
Mark Olson, the vice president of mill operations for the Pacific Steel Group in Mojave, says he has been in the steel business all his life. He tells me he has been excited for this latest project, which had a groundbreaking in March.
“This is a pretty exciting project and a big challenge to bring steel-making back to California. I think we had a lot of people in our industry, the steel industry, that said it couldn’t be done in California and I really wanted to prove them wrong and we did. California has embraced this project,” Olson said.
Olson has a lot on his plate. Among the various challenges is taking on the tariffs in place for steel. Steel manufacturing equipment is not produced domestically.
“We’re kind of navigating country by country, those impacts. It’s not going to derail this project. We’re moving forward. Long term, there have been steel tariffs in place during Trump’s first administration. Biden doubled down on those tariffs. And Trump is also continuing with those. So we see a landscape where for domestic steel manufacturing is a pretty positive environment,” Olson said.
Excitement for the new steel mill has been building up. Olson says it's the first steel mill built in California in 50 years. He adds Pacific Steel is expected to bring in about 400 jobs, 180 of which will be supporting the steel manufacturing facility.
“The atmosphere has been extremely positive. Eastern Kern and Kern County in general, have really supported this project. I see a lot of excitement in the community,” Olson said.
Mark Olson tells me he is grateful for the way the county and state have embraced the idea of a steel company in East Kern. I'm Steve Virgen, your neighborhood reporter.
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