East Kern County Community Foundation

07/28/2026

We remember 2010. We see Trona. Boron is sounding the alarm now.

Rio Tinto reports half-year results this Wednesday. Its Boron mine is for sale, reported at up to $2 billion, with more than a dozen bidders and no buyer announced.

Nobody is required to ask this town anything.

In January 2010, roughly 570 workers were locked out here for 107 days. Families stopped spending because they had nothing to spend. Stores lost their customers, cut hours and closed. Boron nearly went under, because this town's economy has never had a shock absorber.

It still doesn't.

Sixty miles from here, Trona is living the next version. Searles Valley Minerals laid off about 300 people in February, roughly 55 percent of its workforce, and filed for bankruptcy in Delaware on June 15. Trona's future is being decided in a courtroom two thousand miles away.

That is what happens when preparation comes too late.

And it is not just the mine. Seven parcels at Edwards Air Force Base are in an Air Force solicitation for private AI data centers, minimum $500 million and 100 megawatts each, leases up to 50 years. Kern County is separately reviewing a data center at Inyokern with 40 diesel generators and a developer estimate of 12 to 16 million gallons of water a year from a groundwater basin already in overdraft.

Meanwhile Aratina advertises "more than $30 million in local tax revenue" and has never published the calculation. Boron is unincorporated. Not one dollar of that is committed to come back here.

The economic footprint is local.
The health burden is local.
The reinvestment is not guaranteed.

We are not predicting the mine will close. We are not panicking. We are asking Kern County to do twelve specific things before the deal closes, starting with a binding Community Benefits Agreement and the Community Revitalization and Investment Authority that Boron already qualifies for.

We are watching. We are organizing. We are preparing.

Read the full statement, the twelve asks, and sign the petition: cria4boron.ekccf.org

Boron Voice for Progress, an initiative of the East Kern County Community Foundation.

Boron sits at the center of major energy and federal activity. A Community Revitalization and Investment Authority (CRIA) keeps reinvestment local.

06/14/2026

03/29/2026

We need volunteers to help us out with a capital campaign to come up with the Usda Match funds to purchase the Emporium building on Twenty Mule Team Rd Accross from the senior center. This will give us the space needed to have a good pantry workforce training programs and financial literacy classes and IDA Savings account set up and asset tracking. We have a DMV kiosk application in and pending to bring DMV services to Boron and much more in the form of access to health care. So please let me know if your interested in helping us raise funds through posting daily or doing a fundraiser or helping us in Bakersfield at give big at the park we are registered for this and give big Kern in May. DM me or comment here get more info

Join the Give Big Kern team on Saturday, April 18 at 8 AM for the 4th Annual Give Big At the Park Nonprofit Meet and Greet. Visit www.givebigkern.org to learn more about the event.

02/22/2026

With more to come! Love it Thank You!

02/01/2026

Gear up for Give Big Kern 2026 with our in-person workshop!

Join us on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at the Larry E. Reider Education Center, Room 201 (2000 K St, Bakersfield), from 10 AM to 12 PM, followed by optional office hours from 12 PM to 1 PM, where you can ask questions and get one-on-one support.

Bring your laptop to follow along and access your Give Big Kern account. You’ll learn about key dates and deadlines, special events and promotions, competitive prizes, and what’s new for 2026.

This session is recommended for both new and returning participants.