According to 24-7 Press Release, August 12, 2010, Dr Pepper Snapple Group's new manufacturing and distribution facility in the City of Victorville is now operational. Located at the Southern California Logistics Airport, the 850,000 square-foot beverage manufacturing and distribution hub is the largest construction/manufacturing project completed in San Bernardino County, the largest county in California and one of the largest in the country. The facility is bringing more than 200 new jobs to the region. The facility serves as the company's Western manufacturing and distribution hub, bringing up to 40 million cases of product to California and parts of the Southwest. Expected to qualify for LEED certification, the facility houses a 550,000 square-foot beverage distribution center, five filling lines, office space and state-of-the-art beverage processing and support systems. It manufactures soft drink and juice brands such as Snapple, A&W Root Beer, Schweppes, Squirt, RC Cola, Mott's, 7UP and Hawaiian Punch. "The City of Victorville has created an environment in which we are well-positioned to thrive in the Western Region," said Larry Young, president and CEO of DPS. "The delivery of this state-of-the-art facility will allow us to offer a high level of customer service and grow our business." Plastipak Packaging, Inc., a global leader in product packaging, will supply the plastic containers for DPS's manufacturing facility as well as other major consumer product manufacturers. Plastipak's existing customers include Procter & Gamble, Pepsi, Kraft Foods, Kroger and Tropicana. "The relocation and expansion of DPS and Plastipak have laid the foundation for a vibrant industry cluster for the food and beverage industry in Victorville," said Keith Metzler, City of Victorville, director of economic development. "We have successfully delivered the infrastructure to serve the industry's leading suppliers, manufacturers and distributors."

 

 

According to the Victorville Daily Press, August 11, 2010, the Federal Aviation Administration awarded a $2.6 million grant to Southern California Logistics Airport to widen a taxiway and repave a connector leading to the runway. Widening the taxiway is needed to accommodate some of the newer aircraft using the airport, according to FAA spokesman Ian Gregor. Boeing has been testing a new version of the 747 jumbo jet at SCLA that's well suited to cargo operations, an airport official said. "We're fortunate that Boeing is doing flight testing on the new 747 at the airport right now," airport consultant Jim Worsham said. "That way we can say it's already been flying in and out of here." The new jumbo jet's test experience and the $2.6 million of improvements planned at SCLA could be a big selling point to cargo companies looking to expand their operations to the Inland Empire, Worsham said.

 

 

According to the Victorville Daily Press, May 26, 2010, the Victor Elementary School District Board of Trustees is set to approve a $1.4 million upgrade to Irwin and The Academy of Performing Arts & Foreign Language elementary schools, as one of a slew of modernization projects fueled by a voter-approved bond measure. The funds will be used to reconstruct the old cafeteria - currently used for storage - into a new office complex, and to convert the old office building into special education rooms at the Victorville site, which is shared by Irwin and Academy schools. The changes will allow the district to bring back special-needs students that they've had to send to Adelanto due to a lack of special education rooms, which require features such as personal bathrooms and changing areas, VESD Director of Facilities Dale Etters said. The new office will also feature a nurse's lounge, he said. The two-part project had been planned years ago, but the district had run out of funds to make it happen - until voters passed a $150 million bond measure in 2008, Etters said. The bond was pitched as a way to build up to seven new schools to reduce overcrowding, upgrade security and technology, and increase energy efficiency.

 

 

According to the Victorville Daily Press, May 1, 2010, Victorville grew the most in San Bernardino County last year, gaining 2,829 residents for a 2.6 percent gain. The city started off the year at 109,268 residents and finished off 2009 with a population of 112,097, according to the California Department of Finance. Only one other city in the county, Grand Terrace, hit the 2 percent growth mark. Among High Desert cities and towns:

• Adelanto grew 1.1 percent, to 28,540 residents from 28,221 in 2009.
• Apple Valley grew from 69,748 to 70,040, for a 0.4 percent gain.
• Barstow also saw 0.4 percent growth, moving from 24,174 residents to 24,281.
• Hesperia increased from 88,041 to 88,479 residents for a 0.5 increase.

 

 

According to the Victorville Daily Press, February 12, 2011, Victor Valley College has spent more than $1 million on recent beautification and parking lot projects, projects that college officials say give the school a long overdue facelift as it prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary. The college has paid roughly $530,000 out of voter-approved bond money to resurface parking lots and fix potholes, and $614,000 out of its capital improvement funds, not bond money or general-fund cash, to install new landscaping throughout its main campus in Victorville, according to spokesman Bill Greulich. It's the first time the college has launched a major campus-wide beautification project in the past four decades, according to Greulich. Previous projects have included patch-work additions, whereas now the college has established a uniform look and standards for plants and other features, he said. Last spring interim President Christopher O'Hearn cited beautifying the campus among his top short-term goals.

 

 

According to the Victor Valley website, August 18, 2010, Victorville's a Pepper - and a lot of jobs are Pepper, too. Dr Pepper Snapple Group is firing up the assembly lines at its new, 850,000-square-foot production and distribution center on 57 acres at Southern California Logistics Airport. At full capacity, the center can churn out 40 million cases of beverages each year. But it's the jobs that those beverages equate to that have city officials buzzing about the plant. Company officials said that as of last week 217 jobs have been created at the plant, not counting its boost to nearby business and the construction of the massive facility. Officials say about 600 new jobs have been related to the business, said Collette Hanna, business development manager for Victorville. "It's humongous, huge," Hanna said. "Dr Pepper invested a little more than $120 million in the project. ... It's a major impact not only to the Victor Valley, but we've also learned this was one of the largest construction projects of its type in San Bernardino County."

City officials were keen on the success of the facility, especially when they realized they had a chip that could help lure the beverage giant: a wastewater treatment facility. The company needed one to treat the wastewater that comes out of the beverage manufacturing process. So, Victorville invested $30 million to build the facility, not only with Dr Pepper Snapple Group in mind, but future manufacturers, Hanna said. It paid off. The Victorville plant has become the company's fifth and final national manufacturing and distribution hub in a move toward a "hub-and spoke" system of facilities across the country. In such a system, the company creates efficiencies by staying closer to the markets it serves. "Their commitment to build this wastewater facility was an important piece," said Eric Gold, director of engineering for Dr Pepper Snapple. "We looked at several different areas, and the thing that came out on top was their pro-business environment." It didn't hurt that Victorville and Southern California Logistics Airport, where the facility is located, are right smack near both the 15 Freeway and Highway 395 - convenient trucking lanes. The facility seems to be paying off for Dr Pepper Snapple, too. In attracting the bottle manufacturer Plastipak, the company no longer has to worry about producing and shipping certain products from the East Coast. They can be bottled and shipped from Victorville, and there was a ready and willing labor pool to do it, workers who once commuted to outlying areas to work.

 

 

According to the Victorville Daily Press, August 22, 2010, they may not have traditional pilots, but five Predator planes will soon have a permanent home at Southern California Logistics Airport. The Air Force has been paying $6,636 per month for nearly two years to lease Hangar 868 at SCLA as a temporary base for training missions with the MQ-1 Predator Unmanned Surveillance System. But the $4 million hangar set to break ground at former George Air Force Base on Tuesday will be the Air National Guard's first designed specifically to serve as a base for the in-demand Predator system. A ground-breaking ceremony for the hangar is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon at SCLA, with military and community officials expected to attend. The new hangar will take roughly a year to build.

 

 

According to the Victorville Daily Press, October 25, 2010, Dr Pepper Snapple Group's local bottling plant received a Design-Build Excellence Award from the National Design-Build Institute of America. The award was presented earlier this week to Science Applications International Corp. and its subsidiary Benham Constructors, hired by Dr Pepper Snapple to build the $130 million plant that started production earlier this year at Southern California Logistics Airport. The presentation took place during DBIA's 2010 Conference and Expo at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, honoring a few dozen buildings across the country and overseas. "DBIA's recognition and the fact that we were able to complete this project on schedule, despite a construction delay, are testaments to our project team's commitment to staying focused," said J.T. Grumski, senior vice president of SAIC. The plant employs roughly 200 people and consists of a 950,000-square-foot building on 57 acres along SCLA's west side, including warehouse space and a manufacturing plant with up to seven production lines.

 

 

According to Victorvillecity.com, December 17, 2010, as a motorized tug nudged a United Airlines 777 out of an airport hangar here one recent day, Sergio Garcia and his colleagues beamed. The merger of United Airlines and Continental means all the planes in their combined fleet need a paint job. The massive jet had gone into the hangar 11 days before wearing United's battleship gray. It emerged in the white, blue and gold of United's recent merger partner, Continental Airlines. "It's nice to see the final paint job," said Mr. Garcia, 30 years old, who has been painting planes since 1997. "We know how much work it takes to paint an aircraft." Mr. Garcia works for Leading Edge Aviation Services Inc. The company has never been busier, thanks to a slew of repainting contracts from airlines refreshing their colors and two big mergers, which have brought a surge of work. Leading Edge repainted about 500 jetliners in 2009, and it has done about 450 already this year, says Mike Manclark, the founder, owner and chief executive.

When Delta Air Lines Inc. bought Northwest Airlines in 2008, Delta wanted the combined fleet to sport the Delta livery as soon as possible. Although Delta has its own paint shops, the carrier preferred to expedite the project for branding purposes, says a Delta spokeswoman. So Mr. Manclark's company, which operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, converted 400 Northwest planes to the Delta costume in just 14 months. In all, Leading Edge has put 477 Northwest planes and 112 Delta aircraft into Delta's new livery in the past two years, Delta says. Normally that would have taken years because airlines cycle their planes out of service and into paint shops at a much more leisurely pace. "In the old days, paint was an afterthought," Mr. Manclark says. "Nowadays, it's your calling card." "Painting is really an art," he says, adding that "in painting commercial airliners, there is no cheating" because the paint must survive pressurization and depressurization, bitter cold at 35,000 feet, searing ground temperatures, as well as lightning and the elements. A plane's manufacturer applies the initial coat of paint as part of the sale. But when airlines change liveries or refresh paint, which they generally do every five to six years, they frequently turn to outsiders.

Now that United and Continental have merged, Mr. Manclark's painters are working flat out to repaint the United planes in Continental's colors with United's name on the fuselage. The first United plane to get the makeover, a 777, came out of Leading Edge's Amarillo, Texas, hangar in November. United Continental Holdings Inc. awarded Leading Edge the contract to redo most of the big jets in the combined fleet. The goal is to have all Continental planes renamed by the end of 2011 and to have all United planes get the treatment by the end of 2012, a spokesman said. That is about 16 United and as many as 30 Continental planes a month. Mr. Manclark expects next year to be his busiest ever and plans to hire more workers to augment the 1,000 he already employs. "We were pretty busy before," he says. "Now, with the mergers, we've turned the turbo on."

 

 

According to Victorvillecity.com, January 3, 2011, an Adelanto company is looking to move into abandoned munitions bunkers at Southern California Logistics Airport, where it can test decoy flares and other prototypes for clients that include the Department of Defense and NASA. "One of the new projects that will be kicked off in this new location will be to conduct research and development on a new class of decoy flares," said Kevin Mahaffy, president of Exquadrum, Inc. "When enemies fire anti-aircraft missiles at our military aircraft, these flares are deployed to confuse the missile and save the aircraft and the lives of those onboard." To make ventures like that one feasible, Mahaffy is moving headquarters for his research and development company from a 10,000-square-foot building on Rancho Road to a series of bunkers at former George Air Force Base. The bunkers were rated for bomb blast and were previously used by the Air Force to store potentially explosive material, a staff report included in Tuesday night's Victorville City Council agenda states, making the buildings a fitting environment for Exquadrum's test facility.

Exquadrum has done work in the past for the US Air Force and the Missile Defense Agency, with projects that include hypersonic wind tunnel technology, satellite thrusters and biological weapons neutralization, with rocket motor systems tested at the El Mirage and Lucerne Valley dry lake beds. "Another new project that we will be kicking off at that location early next year is for NASA," Mahaffy said. "We will be conducting research and development of a new Unmanned Aerial Vehicle technology. This UAV will be launched from another aircraft. It will then inflate and go on to fly its mission of conducting earth observation, science missions."

 

 

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LOGISTICS AIRPORT SCHOOL OF AVIATION GRADUATES BECOME FULLY-CERTIFIED A&P AIRCRAFT MECHANICS

According to Victorvillecity.com, January 19, 2011, a class of 43 is the first graduating class from the Southern California Logistics Airport (SCLA) School of Aviation, with full certification in general aviation mechanics, and the more comprehensive power plant and airframe mechanical training. The graduation takes place on January 19, 2011, 7:00 p.m., at Victor Valley Community College Performing Arts Center. John Hardell, President, SCLA School of Aviation, will be conducting the ceremony.

The SCLA School of Aviation was formed in 2006 with the intent of educating Victor Valley residents in aircraft mechanics, making them ready for employment as jobs become available with companies located at SCLA. With this graduating class, nearly 50% are either already employed or will soon be employed by SCLA companies. Other graduates have found employment at other area airports or aviation companies, including Lockheed and the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Barstow. Only eight graduates are still being placed by the School, as part of the service offered is assistance with job placement. "We are very proud of being able to educate a workforce, providing quality job opportunities for our residents, leading to a better quality of life while also improving the economic condition of the Victor Valley", said Keith Metzler, director of economic development and SCLA. The school provides Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certified courses. Upon certification, graduates are qualified to perform service or make repairs on all types and sizes of private and commercial aircraft. The school is funded by the State of California, the County of San Bernardino, the City of Victorville and private investors. Graduate earning potential ranges from $40,000 to $100,000 annually.

 

 

According to the Victorville Daily Press, July 13, 2011, two Wal-Mart Supercenters are set to break ground in the Victor Valley and bring an estimated 385 new jobs to the area by next summer. Both projects are expected to take roughly a year to complete, Wal-mart spokesman, Aaron Rios, said for openings in mid-2012. As the projects progress, job notices will be posted online at WalmartStores.com/Careers. Supercenters are nearly double the size of regular Wal-mart stores, offering groceries including meat and fresh produce. Both local stores will also have pharmacies and garden centers, along with the staples found in all Wal-mart sites.

Hesperia Wal-mart Supercenter

Hesperia's first Wal-mart Supercenter will be on the corner of Main Street and Escondido Avenue, east of Interstate 15. Some 300 new jobs will be available as the 195,350-square-foot store opens next summer. The site Wal-Mart chose is in Hesperia's Enterprise Zone. Wal-Mart gets to take advantage of a number of tax breaks and incentives through the state-approved program.

Victorville Wal-mart Supercenter

Victorville's first Wal-mart Supercenter will be located next to the Kohl's store along Interstate 15, across Bear Valley Road from the Mall of the Victor Valley. Along with expanded offerings for food, auto repairs and more, city spokeswoman Monica Petersen said the site will include a McDonald's restaurant.

 

 

On December 10, 2007, the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) reported that Victorville was the fastest growing city in the region. Click here to see the CBS TV Video on Victorville.

According to the city of Victorville Website, May 9, 2007, the past ten years have seen explosive growth in Victorville, with a jump of over 60% in population and over 70% in housing units. The City of Victorville’s population has now crossed the 100,000 mark. Victorville is located just 50 miles northeast of Los Angeles County and just a 75-minute drive from Disneyland in Orange County. It’s easy to get to Victorville from anywhere in the United States, via the I-15 Freeway, Highway 395, Highway 18 and Highway 138. Victorville encompasses a land area of about 6760 square miles, with an elevation of 2875 feet above sea level. Victorville is also the home of the Southern California Logistics Airport, which is poised to become the most important international cargo airport in the nation.

 

The city of Victorville is a pro growth community. The city promotes business retention and encourages expansion though tax incentives and low interest loans. According to the San Bernardino Sun, April 18, 2005, Victorville's median priced new home is $259,456. These homes are often on a much larger lot than you would find in Los Angeles, Orange or San Diego County where median priced homes can cost about $600,000. The high prices of homes in the major cities have caused an influx of people to come to Victorville to buy homes.

 

The Southern California Logistics Airport (SCLA) together with the Victorville Redevelopment Agency (RDA) offer new companies favorable economic incentives to encourage them to locate there. These incentives are available to new and expanding companies. Some of these incentives include relocation assistance, manufacturing grant assistance, Lambra tax credits, building fee reimbursements, public infrastructure assistance, and tax increment loan participation. The SCLA and the RDA have assisted the construction of Sumiden Wide Products manufacturing plant, the construction of an 827,000 square foot distribution center for the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, the Mars Candy company, and the construction of a 50,000 square foot auto center for Valley-Hi Toyota and Honda.

 

According to the Daily Press, 3-13-02, Palmdale Road has been dubbed the "Mile of Cars," due to all the new car dealerships in that location to the west of I-15. A new Suzuki Motorcar Dealership shall be built on Palmdale Road. The CEO of the Dealership said: "This will be one of the largest stand-alone Suzuki dealerships in the entire nation." The Japanese carmaker was looking for another Southern California location, and they chose Victorville, because of the excellent demographics in the Victor Valley. Another dealership, Betcher Motors, shall sell late model cars and shall locate on a 29,000 square foot facility, and will be will be built just south of Palmdale Road on Amargosa Road, which is the same street as the famous 60 acre Mall of Victor Valley. The Victor Valley Mall contains Mervyn's, Best Buy, Sears, J.C. Penny, and a host of 100 well known stores.

 

Victorville has the prestige private lake community of Spring Valley Lake, which offers gorgeous homes right on the lake with excellent boating facilities. Spring Valley Lake is a 2007-acre development that offers a Robert Trent Jones Golf Course, a 200-acre lake with 7 miles of shoreline, a private country club and fully equipped equestrian facilities. Homes in Spring Valley Lake can be purchased from $250,000 to $800,000. If similar homes were located in Orange or Los Angeles County, many of them would be selling from $1,000,000 to $3,000,000. Victorville can also boast about the gorgeous homes in its Galaxy, Foxfire Ranch and Eagle Ranch developments.

 

 

 

Victorville has also made great strides in the area of health care, which is evidenced by the impressive multi-story Kaiser Permanente Building that is visible from I-15.

 

 

 

 

 

According to the San Bernardino Sun, January 16, 2010, Boeing officials have confirmed that the company's much-anticipated 787 Dreamliner will go through rigorous flight tests at Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville, which could be a financial boon to some of the city's retail businesses. "Victorville is on the list," said Boeing's Yvonne Leach during a Wednesday interview. "That's the plan as of today." Boeing has chosen SCLA as the "primary site" for the test program and will test three aircraft there, city documents state. The airport would reap $150,000 in landing and fuel-flow fees. Up to 300 people affiliated with the test program - most likely Boeing employees - could be stationed at SCLA, according to a permit application for facility use that was filed with the city. "We're looking forward to local hotels, restaurants, rental car agencies, gas stations and other businesses maybe getting an additional infusion from this," a Victorville spokesperson said. "You want the airplane to experience everything the plane could experience in its flight in a compressed period of time," Gunter said. "The test airplanes are wired with sensors and all types of test equipment that aren't on a normal airplane. We're monitoring in very precise ways."

Worsham said SCLA's 15,100-foot runway, large open areas and sunny weather are optimal for testing planes. Boeing has tested aircraft there since 2003, but testing the Dreamliner could be "big business for the High Desert," he said. Boeing has orders for 840 of the jets and plans the first delivery to Japan's All Nippon Airways in late 2010. The Dreamliners being tested are the first of three 787 models that Boeing hopes to roll into the market in the future.

 

 

According to the Victorville Daily Press, January 29, 2010, a part of an ongoing effort to strengthen the local workforce, Victor Valley College has secured an $837,500 federal grant to train 150 auto and aircraft technicians, as part of a vital expansion of the Southern California Logistics Airport School of Aviation Technology. VVC is the only agency in San Bernardino County of 13 agencies across California to earn a share last week of $10.7 million in federal stimulus funds through the "Industries with Statewide Need" program." This grant for the school is critically important," said Victorville Economic Development Director Keith Metzler, who oversees operations at SCLA. "It's vital to the continued success of the school. It's certainly going to allow us to expand our programs." The aviation school is an 82-week program that will make its students licensed A&Ps, or airframe and power plant technicians authorized to do maintenance, repair and overhaul work on commercial aircraft.

 

 

According to the Victorville Daily Press, January 12, 2010, if a Beverly Hills-based company has its way; Victorville may well become the "Gateway to China." Yasheng ECO-Trade Corporation has been working for more than a year on plans to develop a massive logistics center near Southern California Logistics Airport, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As planned, the "Yasheng Asia Pacific Cooperative Zone" would initially house operations for some 50 Chinese companies, SEC documents state, creating a centralized location to finish production on goods imported through the Long Beach and Los Angeles ports and then market, sell and distribute those products.