Business View Civil Municipal - Sept 2023

105 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 12 Meadows explains, it began as a humble railroad stop back in the 1800s. The first post office was created there in 1898. “Shafter has always been an ag town,” Meadows adds, revealing that some 40 percent of the local workforce continues to be engaged in some form of agriculture. “But we have an increasing presence in logistics. We’re one of the biggest logistics hubs on the West Coast. Quite possibly, as time goes by, we’ll become one of the largest in the nation.” Within the last couple of years, the median age has begun to drop, he added. The average citizen of Shafter these days is just 29 years old. How is that possible? Meadows informs that Shafter is the kind of community from which kids may leave, going off to college. But they come back. They return to work and live in this charming place. The city of Bakersfield has an enormous SHAF TER , CAL I F.