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Weekly Update

10/30/09

WEEKLY UPDATE
October 30, 2009

CAN YOU GET THERE FROM HERE???...transportation funding is probably the most competitive government funding around. There is very much a squeaky wheel element and those of us who enjoy less crowded environments have to pay for the elbow room with less muscle on the public policy agenda. We can, however, counteract that to some degree by letting our voices be heard. Next Friday, November 6th, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation will hold a public meeting to take your comments and suggestions as they put together a new state transportation plan. The public meeting will be held at City Hall in Ponca City from 4 pm to 6 pm. You can find out more at www.oklongrangeplan.com. This is an important opportunity because you might be surprised how important this kind of input is.

WHAT DO YOU WANT THEM TO SAY???...we've all heard the joke about the accountant who, when interviewed for a job, asked his perspective employer "What do you want the numbers to say?" Leaving out the nefarious intent, the story came to mind when the most recent unemployment rate for Kay County, (September) came out. The 8.1% rate was little surprise, we all we knew about losses throughout the county. What was a surprise is that, according to the report, there are actually more people working in Kay County today, 100 more to be exact, than there were in March of this year when the rate was 6.7%. The numbers say that we have added more people to the workforce since last March but that the increase in jobs has not kept up with that population growth. Hmm. Intuitively, PCDA would suggest caution in this assessment and would rather suggest that this type of work, statistics, demographics, etc. are not exact sciences. It does, however, reemphasize the importance of next year's U.S. census. If we have grown, that's very good news but we have to prove it.

SO THE RECESSION IS OVER...according to yesterday's release from the U.S. Department of Commerce. The nation's 3.5% growth, however, did not translate into instant job gains as 521,000 more Americans filed for unemployment for the first time last week. Job growth always lags the end of a recession, usually significantly lags the end, so the experts are urging patience. To try and expedite the return to job growth in Ponca City, PCDA spent this week putting the final (we hope) touches on one particular deal. We also were in California, meeting with a company from Europe, (Carmen San Diego where are you?) opened another new project with a company that has an interest in our fair community and responded to a lead for a promising project that really should be here. The difficulty has been getting companies to pull the trigger and make the positive decisions we want them to make. With credit tight in the U.S., (and abroad) and orders for finished goods still lagging the nation's manufacturing capacity, the 3.5% growth from the last quarter has been taking up the excess capacity already in the economy, not necessarily adding new growth in terms of investment or jobs.

UPCOMING...

 Fri. Nov. 6th: Public Hearing CDA Economic Briefing to the Ponca City Rotary Club

 Mon. Nov. 9th: Final UML Check Presentation, 2:30 p.m., City Hall, Ponca City

 Thur. Nov. 9th: PCDA Board of Trustees Monthly mtg., 7:30 a.m., Chamber of Commerce

 Tue. Nov. 17th: OSU Oklahoma Statewide Economic Forecasting Conference, Moore

Ponca City Development Authority. 102 S. Fifth Street, Ste. 3, Ponca City, OK 74601

580.765.7070/580.765.0969-fax, email dmyers@goponca.com, www.goponca.com