Victor Valley Emerges as a Logistics and Aerospace Hub

Courtesy of BNSF Barstow International Gateway

For years, the Victor Valley was known mostly as a place to live, a string of High Desert communities where Southern California families could find an affordable home within reach of the coast. That’s still true today. But the region is also one of the West’s most strategically important centers for commerce, logistics and aerospace. 

The reason starts with geography. The Victor Valley sits where Interstate 15 meets U.S. 395, the corridors that connect the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the busiest in the nation, to the rest of the country. Together, the two ports handle roughly a third of the country’s containerized imports. 

Moving Goods at Scale 

A few miles north of Victorville, an infrastructure investment of historic proportions is underway. The BNSF Barstow International Gateway (BIG) – a $4 billion, roughly 4,500-acre rail complex – is the first integrated facility of its kind built by a major U.S. railroad. 

BIG represents a fundamental shift in how freight flows through the state. By relocating container sorting and processing from congested port-adjacent communities to Barstow, a High Desert hub with strong transportation infrastructure, the project enables a major mode shift from trucking to cleaner, more efficient rail. 

In fact, BIG is projected to eliminate approximately 800,000 truck trips per year from freeways of the Los Angeles Basin and the Inland Empire. BNSF has also made significant environmental commitments for BIG, including the use of zero-emission rail mounted gantry cranes, hybrid rubber-tired gantry cranes, zero-emission forklifts and hostlers, and electric plug-ins for refrigerated units. 

At the same time, BIG is expected to generate significant economic benefits at the local, regional and state levels, including approximately 62,000 construction-related jobs and 15,000 long-term operational jobs. 

“Over its first 20 years of operation, BIG is projected to deliver substantial economic value within the City of Barstow, including approximately 5,400 new direct jobs, $938 million in total earnings and $2.9 billion in total economic output,” says Lena Kent, BNSF general director of public affairs. 

For a region long defined by its rooftops, that kind of investment is reshaping what economic opportunity looks like in the High Desert. 

Natan Vigna

An Aerospace Anchor 

While the rail gateway tells one story about the Victor Valley’s economic evolution, the Southern California Logistics Airport tells another. 

What launched in 1994 as a strategy to recover from the closure of George Air Force Base has become one of California’s most successful base reuse stories. Today SCLA is a 5,000-acre aviation, aerospace and industrial hub, the Victor Valley’s largest employment center, home to more than 60 companies and 4,100 jobs. 

The roster reads like an aerospace industry directory. Boeing operates a major aircraft modification facility on-site. GE Aerospace conducts aircraft engine testing here. General Atomics, International Aerospace Coatings and a constellation of maintenance, repair and overhaul specialists have built operations around the airport’s singular advantages: a 13,052-foot primary runway capable of handling the world’s largest aircraft, 360 days of severe clear weather, low humidity and proximity to restricted airspace that makes it a natural home for flight testing and experimental design. 

“SCLA has the unique ability to cater to the entire aircraft life cycle in one location,” says Victorville Public Information Officer Sue Jones. “The businesses operating here, whether they offer aircraft painting, flight testing, recycling or maintenance repair and overhaul services, find great synergy of purpose with fellow tenants.” 

SCLA’s influence reaches well beyond its runways. The airport’s presence has catalyzed more than 7 million square feet of industrial development in the surrounding area, drawing household names across manufacturing and consumer goods – and helping the Victor Valley close in on recovering every job lost when the base shuttered more than three decades ago. 

Infrastructure investment signals continued momentum: In October 2025, S&P Global Ratings assigned an A+ rating to $78.73 million in SCLA increment bonds. “Thanks to SCLA, both aviation and logistics are defining the future of Victorville’s economy, and SCLA is investing in the next generation of aviation professionals,” Jones says. “SCLA provides space for Victor Valley College’s Aviation Maintenance Technology Program and funds full-ride scholarships for students in this program. Providing an economic center with good-paying jobs for our residents and developing the talent our local businesses need makes SCLA a key contributor to the Victor Valley Economy.”