• Mountain Community Chamber of Commerce

     

    2024 in Review

     

    With 2024 behind us, I’d like to take some time to review the highlights and accomplishments the Chamber of Commerce achieved last year. As your current President of the Chamber and your Field Representative for District 2 for Kern County, I’ve been able to better help not only our local businesses but our residents as well. The two overlapping positions seem to serve and complement the scope of their respective duties.

     

    I need to thank our current Board of Directors for all their dedication, time and personal resources which they generously donate year-round: Vice President-Elizabeth Cavey-Abshire, Secretary/Treasurer-Deborah Turner, Director-Ray McClelland, Director-Mel Weinstein, Director-Michael Karr and newly appointed Director-Jessica Hernandez who is also our new Director of the Family Resource Center.

     

    We have had a new gardening crew maintaining our park since early 2024. They have been doing a great job keeping our park better manicured. New playground equipment has also been installed for our young ones to play on. And, our park’s parking lot finally got repaved and striped. It looks so nice now!

     

    Our 3-2-1 Hiking Challenge continues to draw tourism to our mountain. We had over 75 hikers take the challenge last year with over 60 trekkers sending in their pictures of completion. People often share their experiences when sending us their pictures and many of the participants say that they stayed in a local BnB and enjoyed the amenities of the PMC village. Learn more about the 3-2-1 Challenge on our chamber website at: MyMountainChamber.com

     

    We were proudly able to donate $1000.00 in scholarship funds to Frazier Park High School again. Students were selected by school staff based on their merit towards potential business skills. For 2025, the board has voted to increase the amount of scholarship funds to $2000.00. We look forward to the winners’ entrepreneurial endeavors on and off the mountain.

     

    The revival of our quarterly social mixers continued in 2024 with great success. If you would like to host a Chamber mixer, please get in touch with us to schedule the event. 661-245-1212. We also continued with our 2nd Annual Casino Night. The auspicious evening was attended by over 85 people who came to play, eat and drink the night away while competing for the raffle prizes by exchanging their play money for tickets. There were 3 big prizes and a dozen other prizes of gift baskets and gift certificates donated by local business owners.  Thank you to all the sponsors and donors for making it a huge success. We intend to have our 3rd Annual Casino Night again this year and look forward to more of you joining us next time.

     

    AT&T was proposing to the California Public Utility Commission to be relieved of their obligation of Call of Last Resort, thus ending AT&T’s duty to provide landlines to their service area. Many calls came to me opposing AT&T’s request with residents depending on their landlines. Letters were sent from residents, the Chamber and Kern’s Chief Economic Development Officer to the CPUC. Our efforts were a success and AT&T’s request was denied at this time.

     

    With an open seat for District 2 Supervisor on November’s ballot, the chamber hosted a “Meet the Candidates” forum in October. Attendees were able to hear the candidates views, perspectives and what each candidate could bring to the table as a supervisor.

     

    The Chamber’s billboard signs got some new lighting equipment. Our older solar light system was vandalized a few times with batteries and wires being stolen. The new lighting system is all self-contained and is now lighting up the boards for several hours at night.

     

    Some new programs started up in 2024. Movie in the Park with free popcorn was very successful. We showed a movie per month in June, July and August with over 75 people attending each time. Look for a coming schedule of which movies are to be shown in 2025. Bridging the Gap Between Law Enforcement and the Community was created in an effort to involve residents and our local deputies. It’s a hybrid of Coffee with a Cop and Neighborhood Watch. Camshafts and Coffee hosted by Full Throttle Kustoms and the Chamber for the motorcar enthusiast. This group gathers at the end of most months in the park. Look for the next one on our website’s event calendar page.

     

    As always, it has been an honor and a privilege to be able to serve on the Board of the Chamber of Commerce. I truly enjoy being able to help others get things done and will continue to do my best for all of us.

     

    BJ Saidi/President

    Mountain Communities Chamber of Commerce