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Weekly Update

04/25/08

April 25, 2008

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS IN TONKAWA...we spend a lot of time talking about how economic details is about the details and the stuff that usually doesn't make it into the newspaper. Tonkawa took a big and important step this week when they received approval of a grant from the USDA Rural Development Agency to build an access road next to Holiday Lighting. Said road was critical to Holiday's business and it also opens more property along I-35 to future business. Grants are not easy to get and our neighbors could pretty much write a text book on the way they submitted the grant, "sold" the need to the agency and, most importantly, listened to the needs of their businesses. It also helped that the USDA had a real interest in effectively putting resources where they would do the most good. PCDA congratulates Tonkawa and thanks the USDA for their support of Kay County business.

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS IN PONCA CITY...seems we have a theme this week. Either that or we're in a rut. Taking care of business is a good rut to be in if you're in economic development, however. This week, PCDA provided two companies with the follow-up they needed in order to make potential expansion and relocation decisions. We also spent a great deal of the week on workforce issues. Let us, please, explain that. There are great workforce training programs at Pioneer Tech. There are very capable workforce intake folk at the local OESC office. What we do is try to find people and take them by the hand to either OESC, Pioneer Tech or the businesses depending upon the person. These folk come from the PCDA workforce recovery program, our veteran recruitment program and our website that has a "come hither" link for people looking for jobs in a great place. Also this week, our crack contracting department, (Tim Burg) met with city staff re: the temporary occupancy permit for Continental Technologies, continued to oversee the Encompass Tool project and worked on a couple of other projects that we must deny exist...at least for now.

LEADING...as you no doubt know, both Tonkawa and Ponca City have leadership training programs designed to help people with strong potential get to know the real Ponca City, (or Tonkawa). On Wednesday, PCDA spent some time with our Ponca City group, putting them through an exercise on how an economic development organization, (can you guess which one?) puts together a package to try and help a company choose to come here or choose to expand here. This was not designed to tell them we're right and this is why. These are bright people and economic development is all about matching economic development with the vision of a community, (as in future leaders). Ergo, we were trying to listen to them more than we wanted to tell them wazzup. So, they told us to diversify the Ponca City economy and target high wage jobs. They told us a lot more than that but that's the cliff notes version.

UPCOMING...

 Thur. May 8th: PCDA May Board meeting, 7:30 a.m., Chamber Conference Room

 Wed.-Fri. May 14-16th: New York Call Trip, sponsored by the Guv.'s ED Team and ODOC

 Sun-Wed. May 18-21st: ICSC Retail trade show (Recruitment) with the Chamber

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