GROWING YOU BUSINESS…..

is hard right now. There are so many limitations: finding employees, training employees, getting supplies and charting the right growth trajectory. But many of our local companies are doing just that: growing their business. Whether in manufacturing, retail or service, despite the past two years and practically because of supply chains, our local Ponca City companies are on a growth pattern. Why? Well, think about you as a consumer. You buy more local. Why? Because your friends and families have local businesses you want to support. Another reason is proximity. Most of us don't want to travel very far from home. And think about all those gardens we planted over the last two years and how many local farmers have received support in their endeavors.

Manufacturers have to make stuff and U.S. companies are buying local; retailers have to sell stuff and the local consumer is buying closer to home and service wise, here in Ponca CIty we have some great service providers. Small business owner, pat yourself on the back for all your hard work. And you, consumers, give yourselves a pat as well. Good job supporting local retailers. Stay tuned as PCDA continues to assist local business and industry to keep right on growing.

GROWING THE NEXT WORKFORCE

one student at a time. A local group of Soroptimist International sponsors a Dream It, Be It luncheon every month for 8th Grade girls. This week, 35 East Middle Schoolers ate some sandwiches and listened while PCDA staff gave information and answered questions on future job potential, City Central and Ponca City information in general.

Want to know more about getting involved with this group? Find out more about local activities here.

THE GREEN ECONOMY!

yes that green: Marijuana. First the obvious. PCDA does not recruit or incentivize anything in this industry. This is not because we have made a judgement on the industry; PCDA is apolitical and makes no such judgements. It’s simply because we don’t need to recruit or provide incentives. Incentives are designed to encourage people to do things. This industry needs no encouragement. The impact from this new industry to an already tight workforce situation has been significant. It’s not just dispensaries, it’s grow operations outside the city (you cannot have a grow operation inside city limits). There are, at last count, close to 200 grow operations within 30 minutes of Ponca City and each of these requires people to work them. Numerous local businesses, including employers you might not think, have lost employees to jobs in the marijuana industry. It’s too soon to say how sustainable this all is but, for now at least, it presents a considerable challenge to local employers and a dampening impact for potential new employers in more traditional industries.

TRAINING THE NEXT WORKFORCE

One apprentice at a time.

An engineering apprenticeship bachelor’s degree for rural students? Should we say more? We will at the Informational Lunch on March 3^rd at City Central….

Find out more about this opportunity and hear from students in the program.

Now // 1st Fox Art Show Merchandise is available // Online

Visit www.poncacitymarketplace.com to get your

foxy totes, coffee mugs, tea towels and more.

Click here to check out all the thank yous and whose art is on what.

Friday, Feb 25// Ponca Politics: Meet your Legislators // Noon-1pm

City Commission Chambers - City Hall

Meet our local government representatives.

Great opportunity to ask your questions and get an update from our legislators.

Friday, Feb 25 // Art Exhibition at The Doodle Academy // 5 to 7 pm

Come check out local artists before the move at the Poncan.

Friday, Feb 25th // Citizen Kane - Poncan Theatre // 7 & 9:30 pm

You won't want to miss this classic movie shown in partnership with City Arts.

Monday, February 28// Last day to turn in Ponca City Receipts to Chamber

Drawing for winners is at 5 pm.

Thursday, March 3 // Cash Mob at Lowe's // 11:30 am

Come out and support local businesses with a cash mob.

Buy if you can, but show your support by being there at 11:30 am 

Friday, March 4th // Ladies Night on Grand // 5-8 pm

Visit all the open shops on Grand and check out Grand Cafe for some snacks.

Sponsored by Ponca CIty Main Street and all the Main Street supporters.

Friday, March 11 // Spring PC Business Plan Pitch-off // Deadline March 1

Get those plans ready and submitted to participate in over $5000 in business incentives for your Ponca City start-up or next step. Call Kat for more details.

580.765.7070 klong@goponca.com

Rental Property - Available Listings

FINDING EMPLOYEES…..

and hiring employees takes time, patience and many times, a little luck to go with the skill set of Human Resources. Staff were at the OSU, that is Oklahoma State University for those who wear something other than orange to sporting events, Career Fair at the Stillwater Campus this week and we are here to tell you, that is where your workforce is currently located. Freshman to finishing up their third degree, if you are not actively recruiting on a college campus, well you better call Ponca Works so we can get out there and do it for you.

And then there is all the time and effort that goes into that recruitment process. There were 177 employers scheduled to attend this career fair. Mother Nature threw a little wrench at some of us, but there were only a few empty booths at Gallagher Iba yesterday. Not sure how to start recruiting your next employee? There is this handy group for HR people called SHRM (Society for Human Resources Management) which has several articles on many job recruitment and HR topics, including How to Recruit College Students. After you read this and any other article, give Ponca Works a call and see how Liz Leaming can assist with recruiting your next intern/college student/

permanent employee. And keep reading for upcoming job fairs and Lunch & Learns on identifying and finding your next employees.

FINDING PYE

Ponca Young Employeess that is. This group gets around and gets involved and they have fun doing it. If you are part of the under 40 crowd and are looking for your people, they might just be hanging out at VAB next Wednesday, February 23 from 6 to 7 pm sipping a locally made beverage of some sort. Thank you to the PC Chamber for the info.

CART OF REQUIREMENTS!

When traveling to career fairs, a collapsible cart to carry all the information, giveaways and booth trappings is an essential item. Especially when said job fair happens on a snow day. Thanks to dedicated PCDA staffers with four wheel drives, Log10 and Ponca Works talked to students about aligning their futures with Ponca City at the OSU Spring Career Fair.

NEW PRODUCTS IN PC

There are brand new products created everyday. And Ponca City is now different. with a new product made right here in Ponca City with rotational molding technology. Century Products LLC is making round end poly tanks and sending them out. Here is a video of the process. These tubs are 50, 100 and 150 gallon tanks. Shipping out of Ponca City as you read this. Do you know all of the products which are made in Ponca? Check out this list of manufacturers on the GoPonca.com website.

RECRUITING ENGINEERS

Please consider attending this informative Lunch & Learn on Thursday, March 3rd. If your company is seeking engineers currently or will need a few in the years ahead, this program could be your way to recruit, train and retain future employees. Find out more by contacting Liz Leaming at 8-580.765.7070and signing up for this program. You get lunch and information!

FREE COVID TESTS AVAILABLE TO ORDER FOR HOUSEHOLDS

go to www.covidtests.gov and order for your home address.

Now // 1st Fox Art Show Merchandise is available // Online

Visit www.poncacitymarketplace.com to get your

foxy totes, coffee mugs, tea towels and more.

Click here to check out all the thank yous and whose art is on what.



Thursday, Feb 24 // Intro to Lean Manufacturing // Pioneer Technology Center

Streamline your processes; curb your costs.

Sign up for this half day course at Pioneer Tech

Wednesday, Feb 23 // Use YOUTUBE to Grow Your Business // Online

Sponsored by OSBDC 2 to 3 pm. Sign up here.

Friday, March 11 // Spring PC Business Plan Pitch-off // Deadline March 1

Get those plans ready and submitted to participate in over $5000 in business incentives for your Ponca City start-up or next step. Call Kat for more details.

580.765.7070 klong@goponca.com

Rental Property - Available Listings

COLLABORATE OR DIE…..

takes on a different meaning in Ponca City. Yes, our companies collaborate and die can refer to tools which functionally change the shape of metal. It's what we do here in Ponca City. Functional Change. This week, PCDA Board of Trustees were held spellbound by more tales from local industry about working together on projects and keeping contracts here in Ponca City instead of having to ship product out of town or state for testing and tolerances.

Staff also shared information on upcoming programs (see below) and videos on equipment investments by a new-to-Ponca-City company. Click here to see some heavy machinery in action.

PODCAST: FINDING YOUR VOICE

PCDA staff talked to a full house of Ponca City Chamber members this week about starting a Podcast. Maybe some collaboration will happen between participants. There were some interesting topics bandied about (bourbon, wine, spirits) and some great ideas were exchanged. Did you miss it? Here is the Powerpoint from Kat with links to all the things.

CONGRATULATIONS!

PCDA loves when our local leaders get an "Atta boy", "Well Done" or "Good Job". We especially love it when a local leader is a local business owner, Senator and all around great guy. Congratulations to Senator Coleman on receiving a distinguished service award from the Oklahoma State Regents for higher education. You sir, are a rock star!

ITS A NUMBERS GAME

This week was the February PCDA Board of Trustee meeting, held every second Thursday at City Central. Joe Public is welcome and since it starts at 7:30 am, there is always coffee on. This week, Laurence Beliel did a great show and tell with a new product made right here in Ponca City with rotational molding technology. If you missed the video, here it is again. David gave an overview of business recruitment and how it has drastically changed in the last two years (pandemic) and how it has been evolving since PCDA was created in 2003.

Find out more about that presentation here.

NEW OPPORTUNITIES

Please consider attending this career fair event by filling out this form. The event will take place at Ponca City High School in the West Gym on Wednesday March 9th from 10:30 am until 12:30 pm. All regional employers who would like more community and next workforce exposure are encouraged to sign up. To attend you will need information about your upcoming in-demand careers, some sort of hands-on project or display that will help peak interest on your up and coming openings. A bonus would be an intern job description and applications available for students to fill out for Fall of 2022 internships.

FREE COVID TESTS AVAILABLE TO ORDER FOR HOUSEHOLDS

go to www.covidtests.gov and order for your home address.

Now // 1st Fox Art Show Merchandise is available // Online

Visit www.poncacitymarketplace.com to get your

foxy totes, coffee mugs, tea towels and more.

Click here to check out all the thank yous and whose art is on what.



Thursday, Feb 24 // Intro to Lean Manufacturing // Pioneer Technology Center

Streamline your processes; curb your costs.

Sign up for this half day course at Pioneer Tech

Wednesday, Feb 23 // Use YOUTUBE to Grow Your Business // Online

Sponsored by OSBDC 2 to 3 pm. Sign up here.

Friday, March 11 // Spring PC Business Plan Pitch-off // Deadline March 1

Get those plans ready and submitted to participate in over $5000 in business incentives for your Ponca City start-up or next step. Call Kat for more details.

580.765.7070 klong@goponca.com

Rental Property - Available Listings

COLLABORATION…..

is the name of our business retention & expansion game here in Ponca City. There have been many studies done on business clusters and how a cluster of industry, restaurant or retail will bring more business and customers to the area. It really is about collaboration, not competition. Staff found this article by Kevin Maggiacomo in the magazine “Real Leaders” interesting as PCDA has been preaching collaboration for many years. Business to business (b2b) networking and contracting can grow any business/industry corridor. Some great reasons to collaborate with other companies are better buying power for like resources, customer convenience and partner proximity. There was only one drawback in this article from Chron and though staff agrees you can have too much of a good thing, we aren’t there yet.

Some of the areas of collaboration PCDA continues to work in are industry/business to business growth, internships to build workforce stickiness and small business assistance. It takes a village, and our village likes to work together.

INTERNSHIPS AVAILABLE

Ponca Works director Liz Leaming works closely with PoHi to get interns placed in local industry positions. To date, 37 interns have been finding out about the inner workings of businesses from industry to retail to service. And, a little bird told us that the possibility of every PoHi graduate being placed in some type of internship might become a reality. Find out more about how internships create workforce stickiness here in Ponca City.

TRADE SHOW BRIGADE

Gets ready to ride again in early March. This award winning program allows PCDA to host a booth at Design 2 Part, a contract manufacturing trade show in Texas. The booth is Ponca City Industries. The participants are contract manufacturers from Ponca City able to showcase their processes, partnerships and talk about the all important customer convenience afforded doing projects in Ponca City. Stay tuned for more details on this great program heading into it’s fifth year.

WIND UP FOR THE PITCH

The PCDA Spring Pitch off is just around the corner for those with a great business idea or an existing business ready to get to the next level (remember Stage II from earlier). Maybe you are an inventor or product developer ready to launch the next big thing. We want YOU to write that business plan and pitch your idea to our group of judges on Friday, March 11^th. Call Kat at 580.761.3028 or Ben Evans at 580.718.4262 to get started on your business plan writing. You will have access to a great online resource called LivePlan to help you write and refine your plan. What are you waiting for? Your future is just a PITCH away! Find out more information here.

NEW OPPORTUNITIES

Has your business explored working with the largest contractors in the United States? We are of course talking about the guvment. As your business seeks new contracts or clients, turn your search to government contracting at the city, county, Tribal, state and federal levels. How? Well, Kay County just happens to have a very helpful Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) representative. Just Ask Dawn! Dawn Brakey is part of the Business Services Team at Pioneer Tech. Stay tuned for upcoming Lunch & Learns to get your business into the government contracting game. Give her a call at (580) 718-4261 or dawnb@pioneertech.edu.

FREE COVID TESTS AVAILABLE TO ORDER FOR HOUSEHOLDS

go to www.covidtests.gov and order for your home address.

Now // 1st Fox Art Show Merchandise is available // Online

Visit www.poncacitymarketplace.com to get your

foxy totes, coffee mugs, tea towels and more.

Click here to check out all the thank yous and whose art is on what.



Feb 4-6, 2022 // MATILDA Jr. // Poncan Theatre

Evans Children's Academy of Performing Arts.

Get your tickets now and support the kids arts.

Thursday, Feb 10 // PCDA Board of Trustee Meeting // City Central

PCDA regularly scheduled Board of Trustee meeting

in Gravity Room, 5th floor at 7:30 am.

Thursday, Feb 10 // Starting a Podcast Lunch & Learn // Chamber of Commerce

Sign up now if you want more information on starting your podcast: business, hobby or blog. Register by calling the Chamber office at 580.765.4400.

Thursday, Feb 24 // Intro to Lean Manufacturing // Pioneer Technology Center

Streamline your processes; curb your costs.

Sign up for this half day course at Pioneer Tech

Rental Property - Available Listings