SHAFTER, Calif. (KERO) — Shafter's city staff and council approved a plan Tuesday to guide the city's economy for the next 5 years.
City leaders teamed up with a consulting group late last year to take a hard look at Shafter's growth, highlighting strengths, pinpointing areas for improvement, and mapping out a clear path forward.
Kamal Siada, the city's economic development director, said the city is starting from a position of strength because of the staff that has continued to build it.
"Our asset side in Shafter is exceptionally well positioned, it's exceptionally well positioned, strong logistics connectivity, a growing population, and technology-ready infrastructure with deep regional partnerships," Siada said.
"Our agility to process projects in Shafter is probably second to none. And so the combination of the strength that exists today, as well as our ability and the agility of the government to move forward, to advance some of these projects, is going to be a great combination," Siada said.
One figure that stood out at Tuesday night's meeting came from Laura Hoffman of Civic Soul, the consulting company that worked with the city.
"$250 million is the estimated supply chain leakage. That means that your companies in town are buying things outside of this community," Hoffman said.
Siada said that leakage is one of the bigger pieces the city intends to address over the next several years, and could also benefit residents in the form of new businesses available to them.
"What we're going to do is dive deeper into those numbers to articulate, to find out where sort of the big impact items are, and try to find ways to attract businesses to Shafter that can provide those products and services. There's also an example around retail leakage. A lot of the folks in Shafter go to Bakersfield and the surrounding communities for grocery retail. So there is a substantial leakage and opportunity cost for potential retailers to locate in Shafter," Siada said.
For residents, the immediate impact is limited. The city says it will continue to implement pieces of the plan throughout the next 12 months.
Stay in Touch with Us Anytime, Anywhere:
