Coming to you from the outdoor venue of the Yard House restaurant, the Rotary Club of Bakersfield Breakfast was again in session. With a good showing of members both in attendance and via ZOOM, we began ZOOMIN’ with Mindy Wilmot who virtually provided our morning Invocation. Mindy tells us that the author of her invocation was a Swiss philosopher. Mindy shared words of gratitude that were imbedded throughout her message. That’s right Mindy, we in America have
so much that we have been blessed with. As Rotarians we recognize those gifts and we have taken a pledge to model and create opportunities for people and business we impact through our Rotary projects every year.
so much that we have been blessed with. As Rotarians we recognize those gifts and we have taken a pledge to model and create opportunities for people and business we impact through our Rotary projects every year.Chipper Chelsea Ashcraft had us standing at attention for America’s Flag Salute, which was then followed by her leading us in…who would have guessed “Jingle Bells”! Come on 
man, I haven’t even eaten my turkey yet.
man, I haven’t even eaten my turkey yet.Absent Jacque Alexander missed an opportunity to announce our visiting Rotarians. Alas, we did not have any, but we had guests. Becky Brooks brought her partner Jared Collup. It has been awhile since Becky attended; it is very good to see the both of you. Past President Cheryl Scott brought husband Darren, and John Guerard’s guest was none other than his wife Susan. Welcome one and all!
Without further ado, Membership Chair Pat Thompson, approached the podium to recognize one of our newest members, Cheryl Rydia. Cheryl has completed all the requirements to acquire her “Blue Badge”. Congratulations Cheryl as you rise higher in your Rotary journey, we recommend sharing with us all your wonderful gifts that make you special and enhance BBRC work with those we serve.
**Featured Program**
Cheryl Scott displayed respect and admiration for the morning’s speaker John-Paul “JP” Lake. Cheryl was not kidding about how involved JP is in our community as she began to cite the numerous organizations in which JP is involved. It is evident JP shares a commitment to community and education just by the title of some of the causes he devotes himself to. As a descendent of the founder of Rain for Rent, JP allocates time towards those organizations that share his philosophical foundation
of what a community working towards opportunities for business growth resembles. JP serves as chair of a Tehachapi Charter School, and has most recently been elected as a trustee of the Panama Buena Vista School District. The morning’s presentation focused upon one of JP’s most daunting projects, The Kern Venture Group.
of what a community working towards opportunities for business growth resembles. JP serves as chair of a Tehachapi Charter School, and has most recently been elected as a trustee of the Panama Buena Vista School District. The morning’s presentation focused upon one of JP’s most daunting projects, The Kern Venture Group. As JP took the stage, he asked Breakfast Rotarians if they recollect a Sunday School song by the name of, “This Little Lord the God has Made”? He inquired about the song because he likened the song to his thankfulness each day brings. Relying on God-given skills, JP stated these skills enable us to support others so they can reach their potential. He said supporting others is what the Kern Venture Group is about.
Honestly, I personally don’t venture out too much, so I am probably not one to answer the question, “What is a venture group?” Well if you’re like me, Breakfast Rotarians sure got a lesson from JP about what venture groups are and their role in prospecting and funding business. JP stated Kern Venture Group is made up of a board of local businesspersons who have assembled to oversee what is called “seed capital” for start-up businesses. JP described the goal for KVG as creating an “ecosystem” of entrepreneurs. Seed capital is funding provided through KVG as an alternative for start-up businesses that would need to try and get funding through traditional bank loans.
Within the name KVG is Kern, but their area of interest is much broader. Reaching out to San Joaquin County to the north, and Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura counties to the west, KVG hopes to fill a void for venture capitalists in these areas. KVG is relatively new - beginning in 2018. Already they have attracted several “out of Kern County” investors. JP stated that 25% of funding has been provided to companies outside of Kern. KVG is the only venture capital investment group of its kind within a 100-mile radius of Bakersfield.
Building bridges for business success is as important as building bridges among established local institutions to support the efforts of KVG. JP told us that Bakersfield College’s “Launch Pad” business preparedness program and Bitwise Industries are two of the good neighbor partners for KVG. JP showed us a PowerPoint of the members of the KVG board; it certainly looked like a Kern County Who’s Who of Business Movers and Shakers.
I was really curious how this whole thing worked. In a nutshell, JP and KVG select and position an entrepreneur’s proposal in the one or more of the following three phases; 1) Pre-Seed capital. Pre-seed is a foundational indicator of not only the initial financial outlay of funds the new entrepreneur has assembled, it is also the commitment they have made. At this point of JP’s presentation, I had this vision of the television show “Shark Tank”. If you have ever seen the show, investors host persons/contestants with business ideas present their business and hope that one of the hosts, who are venture capitalists, buy into their business and provide seed money. Usually, if a contestant does not show a personal commitment they are rejected. KVG is also looking for entrepreneurs willing to commit the blood, sweat, tears, and cash required to make the business successful. 2) Seed Capital. Phrases like Angel Funding and Crowdfunding were just two more fancy terms we learned from JP. These terms describe the relationship between KVG and the entrepreneur when the actual funds are provided to the business seeking support from KVG. 3) Venture. Venture is truly the sign of success when profit is made from KVG’s investment in the new business. A perfect example of this is when other businesses begin to take notice and make proposals for either partnerships or mergers.
Sound like a novel idea? You bet! Any business interested in getting funding from KVG must be evaluated against stringent criteria before being approved. JP recommended that entrepreneurs interested in KVG funding have a sound management team in place, the company preferably is in the service or production industries, their marketing and sales plan is intact, and there is an existing competitive environment for the business’s products. JP told us that last year, of the 360 businesses that applied for funding, only 11 were approved!
There’s a lot to learn from a guy like JP. So, whether you are of the entrepreneurial spirit, or you are a Breakfast Rotarian who wants to learn what is going on here in the Golden Empire, JP and the KVG team may be folks that you want to get to know. To learn more please visit their website at https://www.kernventuregroup.com/contact/ Thank you JP Lake for spending time with us as you are a pillar of our community and are helping our county become more attractive to business and bringing good jobs to support our local families.
Oh yes, JP our morning songstress Chelsea Ashcraft was so inspired by your story about Sunday School songs. She told me after the meeting she will select and include some of those old Sunday School favorites from time to time among our meeting’s opening songs.
**Announcements Announcements**
Dan Johnson has been instrumental on more than a guitar lately. Dan worked closely with the folks at The Broken Yolk restaurant to order frozen turkeys which will be donated to The Boys and Girls Club for our Annual BBRC Turkey Thanksgiving Basket project. Dan told us that a compliment of 30 turkeys were anticipated, but through the Great Turkey gods, Broken Yolk mystically received 30 additional turkeys from their vendor. With not enough freezer storage for the
turkeys, The Yolk was perplexed as to what to do with the surplus. Too many turkeys is a good problem to have this time of year. Call it luck, good fortune, or simply the generosity of Yolk owner Jim Bailey, The Yolk donated all 60 turkeys to BBRC. Way cool folks! And thank you Dan for being there. The surplus turkeys have been donated through BBRC to Jason’s Retreat and the Bakersfield Homeless Center.
turkeys, The Yolk was perplexed as to what to do with the surplus. Too many turkeys is a good problem to have this time of year. Call it luck, good fortune, or simply the generosity of Yolk owner Jim Bailey, The Yolk donated all 60 turkeys to BBRC. Way cool folks! And thank you Dan for being there. The surplus turkeys have been donated through BBRC to Jason’s Retreat and the Bakersfield Homeless Center.Club Anniversaries included just one person, our President Dave Spalinger who has been a member for 22 years! Way to go Prez, we love your and your family’s devotion to BBRC.
We celebrated the wedding anniversaries of Bill and Jan Black and Will Duerksen and wife Janet. Way to go fellas. You set a good example for the rest of us. Enjoy your special dates!
Speaking of President Dave, he read us a letter of thanks from Bakersfield Angels President Allison McClain. She shared how much our donation meant to her partnerships, her organization and most importantly to the children they serve in their foster care mentoring program. I am sure we will be hearing a lot more from the “Angels”.
Michele McClure reported there will be a club social December 6th. She described the event will be a COVID safe event which includes a scavenger hunt “by car”. There will be special clues and mysteries along the way. This is a McClure-certified event so you will not want to miss. The Beacon clue is, how is the December social certified? It is McClure-Certified. Stay tuned for more details.
Other events upcoming include the Annual Christmas Shop with Kids at East Hills Target on the morning of December 12th. Everyone knew that, though right? Well you would have if you read The Beacon! Yes, the Prez was seeing “greenbacks” as he poised to deal the lethal blow to those who did not read last week’s edition. Victims falling prey to fines included Becky Brooks, Dale “I can’t remember” Bender, and Marlene “I can’t read” Heise. The Prez turned to Dave Perkins, a known publisher for the answer. Come on Prez, you gotta know a publisher is going to read The Beacon. Dave was spot on with the correct answer. It was December 12th as the date for Christmas Shopping with Kids at East Hills Mall.
President Dave filled us in on the outcome of the search for a new permanent BBRC home. And with much consideration and calories, the membership voted and overwhelmingly chose the Yard House. With this announcement Prez Dave remined us that because of Thanksgiving we will be DARK this week. Our next meeting will be at the Yard House on December 2nd.
This week we were under government COVID dining restrictions, so we are back to glamorizing mask designs…yuck. With that, the Prez selected Athena Collup’s mask. She carries away a bottle of Conundrum. Prizes galore as a single ticket number held by Karen Bonanno provides enough pocket change to buy her family 3 or 4 turkeys!
I wish all BBRC’ers a safe and pumpkin pie-filled Thanksgiving!
By: Frank Wooldridge, Beacon Writer
11/19/20