BY Vanessa Gregory, The Bakersfield Californian | Friday, Jan 25 2008

Bakersfield, CA - A number of businesses -- including furniture mega-retailer IKEA -- are looking to expand or establish operations in Kern County.

About 10 companies are seriously scouting the county for space to house corporate headquarters, distribution facilities, health care-related businesses and aerospace operations, Richard Chapman, president and CEO of the Kern Economic Development Corp., said at a quarterly board of directors meeting Thursday.

Chapman did not name the companies, but Railex, a New York-based agricultural shipping company, is among them, according to Delano City Manager Abdel Salem.

The company plans to construct and open a 200,000-square-foot distribution facility in Delano near Browning and Schuster roads by July 1, Salem said. The new facility will bring much-needed jobs, initially employing 80 and increasing its work force to 300 within a few years, he said.

"Employment is a major issue for us, as you can guess," Salem said "The (city) unemployment rate is between 20 to 25 percent on the average."

The company is working with the city of Delano, but cannot say anything more, Railex Senior Vice President Paul Esposito said by phone.

Railex will use trains, rather than trucks, to transport produce to the East Coast, Salem said. The company will build a short, private rail line from the planned factory to connect with the main Union Pacific line, Salem said.

At the county's south end, Sweden-based IKEA, the international furniture giant, may expand its existing distribution facilities at Tejon Industrial Complex, at the base of the Grapevine.

IKEA, which already leases about 2 million square feet from Tejon Ranch Co., is "talking about" taking 400,000 square feet of space in an approximately 600,000-square-foot warehouse being constructed by Tejon, Dean Brown, director of construction at Tejon, said during Thursday's meeting.

In Bakersfield, M.D. Manufacturing Inc., which makes central vacuum systems for homes, plans to build a new factory that will be more than twice the size of its existing plant near Union Avenue and Brundage Lane, according to a news release from the company.

M.D. Manufacturing moved from Los Angeles to Bakersfield in 1988 and employs between 25 and 50 workers, Chief Operating Officer Grant Olewiler said. The move to the planned 74,000-square-foot building near 7th Standard Road and Highway 99 will result in 20 to 30 more jobs in coming years, he said.

The company plans to build four other buildings suitable for office and warehouse tenants in the 14-acre parcel it has named the Emdy Business Park. M.D. Manufacturing estimates it will move into its new factory by September.