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IMPACT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAMS IN PONCA CITY SIGNIFICANT ACCORDING TO NEW OSU REPORT

The economic development sales tax, collected in Ponca City since 1995, has generated $21 of economic impact for every one dollar spent, according to a new report just released by the Oklahoma State University Center for Applied Economic Research. The report also finds that a change in economic development strategy by the Ponca City Development Authority in 2004, has resulted in strong wage growth and per capita income growth over the last four years.

Dr. Mark Snead, the report's author, documented economic development programs which began in 1995 that used incentives and other forms of financial support from PCDA and its successor, the Economic Development Advisory Board, to attract and grow jobs in the Ponca City Micropolitan Area. According to the report, these projects have generated $530.4 million in direct economic benefit to the area at a cost of $24 million.

The study names the companies assisted by PCDA and includes the amounts of public funds expended, the jobs produced and the wages paid. It also examines the economic context of 21 economic development projects, beginning with the Thorn Apple Valley project in 1994 through the University Multispectral Lab, SGS-FTS, Drisco, CFS and Bliss projects in 2006 and 2007. The report discusses recent economic development projects such as the Continental Technologies project approved by PCDA Trustees in February of this year, but it does not include it or any project after 2007 in the financial analysis.

Most of the economic impact included in the report comes from wages paid by the companies assisted. It does note strong sales tax growth over the period and documents over $13 million in estimated local taxes and utility usage collected by the City of Ponca City as a result of economic development projects.

The report notes that a change in PCDA strategy in recent years has resulted in a significant increase in wages paid. According to the report, "Since 2004, PCDA has shifted its emphasis to the attraction of higher-wage technology oriented manufacturing and service firms. The new focus is having a visible impact on the labor force as the average wage for jobs created under incentive agreements has increased rapidly. Jobs created since 2004 have an average annual wage of $41,250, more then double that of firms arriving in 1995 and 1996, and 40 percent above the wages paid by firms attracted between 1997 and 2003. It is also more than 28 percent above the average wage and salary income in the Ponca City Micropolitan area."

PCDA Chair Lee Evans said the strong showing for Ponca City's programs was no surprise to him. "The job and economic reports the last couple of years told us our economy was growing at a very strong pace. I'm particularly pleased, however, with the rising wage levels. The community told us they wanted better paying jobs and we set up a strategy to reach that goal that is now paying off. Economic development is about growing our quality of life, not just adding jobs and this report validates that Ponca City has a great future if we keep at this."

David Myers, the Executive Director of PCDA said that the study was good news for Ponca City. "To have the state's leading expert on local economies say that the strategy of pursuing high wage new economy jobs is paying off is, to say the least, reassuring." Myers also said that a key finding in the report, that Ponca City's economic growth was the result of local economic programs rather than a reliance on the state's economy or the strength of the flourishing oil and gas industry signifies that Ponca City's economy is becoming much more diversified than previously thought.

The significant boom in the oil and gas industries was examined by the report to determine whether the growth of the Ponca City economy was the result of growth in these industries or whether it was the result of local action. The study finds that the Ponca City region has "outperformed" the state in job growth in recent years without a heavy reliance on the oil and gas industries. The report states, "Unlike other areas of the state that are enjoying a sizeable boost from oil and gas related activity, the Ponca City region is managing to generate a significant amount of internal job growth without the benefit of a dominant energy sector."

Copies of the study, commissioned by PCDA earlier this year, are available in the PCDA office or on the PCDA website at www.goponca.com.

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